# Qataraspis

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***Qataraspis***[1] (meaning "[Qatar](/source/Qatar) shield") is an extinct genus of primitive [arthrodire](/source/Arthrodire) [placoderm](/source/Placoderm) that lived sometime around the [Late Devonian](/source/Late_Devonian) in what is now [Qatar](/source/Qatar).[2] The type species is ***Q. deprofundis***.[3]

## Discovery and naming

The [holotype](/source/Holotype), **NHMUK PV P41933** and **NHMUK PV P41934** (an almost complete right anterior lateral plate), was discovered during the 1950s in [Qatar](/source/Qatar) by the [Iraq Petroleum Company](/source/Iraq_Petroleum_Company) within the 4.5 inches (11 cm) wide [borehole](/source/Borehole) DK 68 at a depth of 3,828 metres (12,559 ft), making it the deepest known occurrence of a fossil vertebrate to date.[3] The holotype was sent to [England](/source/England) to be studied and *Qataraspis deprofundis* was named and described by White (1969).[3]

Casts of the holotype also exist, under specimen numbers PV P 75116 and PV P 75117.[4]

## Classification

White (1969) classified *Qataraspis* as a basal member of the [Arthrodira](/source/Arthrodira).[3] This classification was followed through by Denison (1978) in a review of the [Placodermi](/source/Placodermi), where it was placed in the [Arctolepididae](/source/Arctolepididae).[2]

## References

1. ["*Qataraspis*"](https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=34381). Fossilworks. Retrieved 24 January 2023.

1. Denison, R. (1978). Placodermi. In H.-P. Schultze (ed.), Handbook of Palaeoichthyology 2:1-128

1. White, E.I. (1969). The deepest vertebrate fossil and other arctolepid fishes. *Biological Journal of the Linnean Society* 1(3): 293-310

1. Natural History Museum (2014). Collection specimens [Data set]. Natural History Museum. [https://doi.org/10.5519/0002965](https://doi.org/10.5519/0002965)

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