# Phyllolepididae

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Phyllolepididae
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Phyllolepididae.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllolepididae
> Source revision: 1355337176
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Family of flattened placoderms}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [Devonian](/source/Devonian)
| image = Austrophyllolepis_ritchiei.jpg
| image_caption = ''[Austrophyllolepis](/source/Austrophyllolepis) ritchiei'' and ''[Bothriolepis](/source/Bothriolepis) mawsoni''
| taxon = Phyllolepididae
| authority = Woodward 1891
| type_species = ''Phyllolepis concentrica''
| type_species_authority = [Agassiz](/source/Louis_Agassiz) 1844
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
* ''[Phyllolepis](/source/Phyllolepis)'' <small>Agassiz, 1844</small>
* ''[Austrophyllolepis](/source/Austrophyllolepis)'' <small>Long, 1984</small>
* ''[Placolepis](/source/Placolepis)'' <small>Ritchie, 1984</small>
* ''[Yurammia](/source/Yurammia)'' <small>Young, 2005</small>
* ''[Cowralepis](/source/Cowralepis)'' <small>Ritchie, 2005</small>
* ''[Cobandrahlepis](/source/Cobandrahlepis)'' <small>Ritchie, 2005</small>
}}

'''Phyllolepididae''' is one of two [families](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) of [phyllolepid](/source/Phyllolepida) [placoderms](/source/placoderms).  The family, as a whole, is believed to be descended from the Chinese placoderm, ''[Gavinaspis](/source/Gavinaspis) ''(which forms the other, [monotypic](/source/Monotypic_taxon) family, "Gavinaspididae").  All but two genera are, more or less, restricted to freshwater habitats of the Early to Middle Devonian of [Australia](/source/Australia).  By the [Frasnian](/source/Frasnian), the genus ''[Placolepis](/source/Placolepis)'' would spread throughout the world, with fossils being found in Australia, [Turkey](/source/Turkey), [Venezuela](/source/Venezuela), and [Antarctica](/source/Antarctica), and by the start of the [Famennian](/source/Famennian),  phyllolepids would become extinct in Australia (then eastern [Gondwana](/source/Gondwana)), with only species of ''[Phyllolepis](/source/Phyllolepis)'' surviving in freshwater environments of Europe and North America.

With the exception of ''[Yurammia](/source/Yurammia)''. all phyllolepids have distinct ornamentation consisting primarily of concentric rings.

==Genera==

===''Phyllolepis''===

The type genus is restricted to freshwater Famennian strata of Europe and North America.  It is also the youngest genus of phyllolepid, being the only taxon that survived the Frasnian-Famennian extinction event.  Most species are known only from isolated or fragmented plates.  Gill arches seen in whole fossils of the recently described ''P. thomsoni'', together with the castanets-shaped mouths typical of the family, confirm that phyllolepids were [suctorial predators](/source/Suction_feeding) analogous to [goosefish](/source/goosefish) or [flatheads](/source/Flathead_(fish)).

===''Placolepis''===

This Frasnian genus is the most widespread phyllolepid, with fossils found in Australia, Turkey, Venezuela and Antarctica.

{{Placodermi|Ar.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q7188830|from2=Q25399010}}

Category:Phyllolepids
Category:Placoderms of Europe
Category:Placoderms of Australia
Category:Placoderms of North America
Category:Placoderms of Antarctica
Category:Placoderm families

{{placoderm-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Phyllolepididae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllolepididae) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllolepididae?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.