{{Short description|Extinct genus of jawless fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Boreaspis NT.jpg | image_caption = CGI reconstruction of ''B. rostrata'' | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|410.8|393.3|Pragian-Emsian}} | taxon = Boreaspis | authority = Stensiö, 1927 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * {{extinct}}''B. rostrata'' <small>Stensiö, 1927 (type)</small> * {{extinct}}''B. batoides'' <small>Wangsjö, 1952</small> * {{extinct}}''B. macrorhynchus'' <small>Wangsjö, 1952</small> * {{extinct}}''B. puella'' <small>Wangsjo, 1952</small> * {{extinct}}''B. spinicornis'' <small>Wangsjö, 1952</small> * {{extinct}}''B. triangularis'' <small>Wangsjö, 1952</small> * {{extinct}}"''B.''" ''ceratops'' <small>Wangsjo, 1952</small> * {{extinct}}"''B.''" ''intermedia'' <small>Wangsjö, 1952</small> }}
'''''Boreaspis''''' (meaning "Boreas's Shield") is an extinct genus of osteostracan agnathan vertebrate that lived in the Devonian period.
Fourteen different species of ''Boreaspis'' have been found in sandstone of the lagoons and estuaries of Devonian Spitsbergen; however, some of these likely do not belong to the genus.<ref name="sansom">{{cite journal | first1 = R.S. | last1 = Sansom | title = Phylogeny, classification and character polarity of the Osteostraci (Vertebrata) | journal = Journal of Systematic Palaeontology | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | date = 2009 | pages = 95–115 | doi = 10.1017/S1477201908002551 }}</ref> The species ''B. robusta'' and ''B. costata'' have been reassigned to ''Spatulaspis''; and ''B. circinus'', ''B. curtirostris'', and ''B. gracilis'' now belong to ''Dicranaspis''.<ref name="groh">{{cite thesis | first1 = S. | last1 = Groh | title = Patterns of diversification in osteostracan evolution | chapter = Appendix | publisher = Uppsala University | type = M.S. | url = https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:737117/FULLTEXT01.pdf}}</ref>
Species of ''Boreaspis'' were very small, with head shields about {{convert|2|cm|in}} long.<ref name="frickhinger">{{cite book | last = Frickhinger | first = Karl Albert | others = Trans. Dr. R.P.S. Jefferies | title = Fossil Atlas: Fishes | url = https://archive.org/details/fossilatlasfishe0000fric | url-access = registration | year = 1995 | publisher = Tetra Press | location = Blacksburg, Virginia}}</ref> All species possessed a long spathe-like rostrum derived from the anterior-most end of the head shield, which would have enhanced the fish's hydrodynamics and was probably also used to root out food buried beneath the substrate.<ref name=EoDP>{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 25|isbn= 978-1-84028-152-1}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}} * {{cite book | last1 = Long | first1 = John A. | title = The Rise of Fishes: 500 Million Years of Evolution | location = Baltimore | publisher = The Johns Hopkins University Press | date = 1996 | isbn = 978-0-8018-5438-5}}
{{Portal|Paleontology}} {{Osteostraci}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q4944799}}
Category:Osteostraci genera Category:Early Devonian fish of Europe Category:Pragian life Category:Emsian life
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