| Osteolepis Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Fossil of O. macrolepidotus at the Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Frankfurt | |
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| Fossil of O. panderi at Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis, Leiden | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | †Osteolepidida |
| Order: | †Osteolepiformes |
| Family: | †Osteolepididae |
| Genus: | †Osteolepis Agassiz, 1835 |
| Type species | |
| Osteolepis macrolepidotus Agassiz, 1835 | |
| Other species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Osteolepis (from Greek: ὀστέον ostéon 'bone' and Greek: λεπίς lepis 'scale') is an extinct genus of lobe-finned fish from the Devonian period. It lived in Lake Orcadie of northern Scotland.
Discovery and naming
The name Osteolepis was first used in 1829 by authors Sedgwick and Murchison, who assigned two species distinguished by the apparent sizes of their scales: O. macrolepidotus and O. microlepidotus. Their descriptions of both species are considered inadequate to describe a taxon, however, and a detailed description of the genus was not published until 1835 when naturalist Louis Agassiz treated the genus in more detail.[1][2][3] Agassiz had previously intended to use the genus name Pleiopterus for the same fossils, but opted instead to use the preexisting genus and species names.[2] In addition to the two species first suggested by Sedgwick and Murchison, Agassiz also named the new species O. arenatus in the same publication. In accordance with Agassiz' description, Osteolepis macrolepidotus is now the type species of the genus.[1]
The species O. arenatus and O. microlepidotus, as well as the species O. major which Agassiz named in 1845, have since been considered identical to the type species O. macrolepidotus.[2] The species O. brevis and the genus Triplopterus pollexfeni, both named in 1848 by paleontologist Frederick McCoy,[4] are also considered synonymous with O. macrolepidotus. The features used to distinguish these species were largely the result of taphonomy, rather than actual anatomical distinctions.[2] Some specimens erroneously identified as O. microlepidotus in 1860 have turned out to belong to a distinct species, and in 1948 paleontologist Erik Jarvik named this species O. panderi. Alongside the type species, O. panderi is the only member of the genus still considered valid.[1]
The genus' name is derived from the Greek ὀστέον (ostéon), meaning 'bone' and λεπίς (lepis), meaning 'scale'. The name of the type species, O. macrolepidotus, translates as 'large-scaled'.[5] The name of the second species, O. panderi, honors Heinz Christian Pander, who first identified its fossils.[1]
Description
Osteolepis was about 20 centimetres (7.9 in) long, and covered with large, square scales. The scales and plates on its head were covered in a thin layer of spongy, bony material called cosmine. This layer contained canals that were connected to sensory cells deeper in the skin. These canals ended in pores on the surface and were probably for sensing vibrations in the water.[6][better source needed]
Classification
Osteolepis was a tetrapodomorph, and was distantly related to tetrapods.[1] It is the name-bearing taxon of the order Osteolepiformes and the family Osteolepidae.[7][8]
Paleoecology
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Osteolepis is known from the Orcadian Basin, which is part of the Old Red Sandstone. This environment was a calm freshwater lake, and was subject to periodic desiccation. During periods where the water was deepest, anoxic (without oxygen) events would result in fish kills, creating the large assemblages of articulated fish fossils that include Osteolepis.[9]
Osteolepis likely fed on small invertebrates such as arthropods and mollusks, and itself may have been prey for larger fish such as Cheirolepis.[9]
References
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- ^ a b c d e Newman, Michael J. (2024-11-26). "A lectotype for the Scottish Middle Devonian (Givetian) fish Osteolepis panderi and the historical problems of the genus Osteolepis". Scottish Journal of Geology. 60 (2). doi:10.1144/sjg2024-006. ISSN 0036-9276.
- ^ a b c d Traquair, R. H. (1888). "IX.—Notes on the Nomenclature of the Fishes of the Old Red Sandstone of Great Britain". Geological Magazine. 5 (11): 507–517. doi:10.1017/S0016756800182809. ISSN 1469-5081.
- ^ Agassiz, Louis; Agassiz, Louis (1833). Recherches sur les poissons fossiles ... Neuchatel: Petitpierre. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.4275.
- ^ Egerton, Philip Grey (1860). "Palichthyologic Notes: No. 12.—Remarks on the Nomenclature of the Devonian Fishes". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London. 16 (1–2): 119–136. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1860.016.01-02.14. ISSN 0370-291X.
- ^ Roberts, George (1839). An etymological and explanatory dictionary of the terms and language of geology. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans. p. 127. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 43. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- ^ Nelson, Joseph S.; Grande, Terry; Wilson, Mark V. H. (2016). Fishes of the world (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6.
- ^ Laan, Richard van der (2018-10-11). "Family-group names of fossil fishes". European Journal of Taxonomy (466). doi:10.5852/ejt.2018.466. ISSN 2118-9773.
- ^ a b Benton, Michael J. (2015). Vertebrate Palaeontology (4th ed.). Oxford: Wiley Blackwell. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-1-118-40684-7.
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