Melanosteus
Melanosteus is an extinct genus of small (skull about 5 centimeters long) selenosteid arthrodire placoderms of the Late Devonian period known from the Upper Frasnian Montagne Noire of Southern France.[1] Rücklin (2011) regards Melanosteus as the sister taxon of Rhinosteus.[2] During the Frasnian stage, Melanosteus occitanus lived off the coast of an island continent, "Armorica," which consisted of portions of what would become Southern France.[3]
| Melanosteus Temporal range: Late Devonian: Frasnian, | |
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| Artist's reconstruction | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | †Placodermi |
| Order: | †Arthrodira |
| Suborder: | †Brachythoraci |
| Clade: | †Eubrachythoraci |
| Clade: | †Pachyosteomorphi |
| Clade: | †Aspinothoracidi |
| Family: | †Selenosteidae |
| Genus: | †Melanosteus Lelièvre et al., 1987 |
| Species | |
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Etymology
The generic name literally translates as "black bone," the color referring to the translation of Montagne Noire, or "Black Mountains." The specific name refers to Occitania, the region of Southern France where the fossils were found.[1]
Phylogeny
Melanosteus is a member of the family Selenosteidae of the clade Aspinothoracidi, which belongs to the clade Pachyosteomorphi, one of the two major clades within Eubrachythoraci. The cladogram below shows the phylogeny of Melanosteus:[4]
| Eubrachythoraci |
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References
- LELIÉVRE, H.; FEIST, R.; GOUJET, D.; BLIECK, A. (1987). "Les vertébrés de la Montagne Noire (Sud de la France) et leur apport á la phylogénie des Pachyostéomorphes (Placodermes, Arthrodires)". Palaeovertebrata. 17: 1–16.
- RÜCKLIN, MARTIN (January 14, 2011). "First selenosteid placoderms from the eastern Anti-Atlas of Morocco; osteology, phylogeny and palaeogeographical implications". Palaeontology. 56 (1): 25–62. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.01026.x.
- Long, John A. (1993). Palaeozoic vertebrate biostratigraphy and biogeography. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 369. ISBN 9780801847790.
- Zhu, You-An; Zhu, Min; Wang, Jun-Qing (1 April 2016). "Redescription of Yinostius major (Arthrodira: Heterostiidae) from the Lower Devonian of China, and the interrelationships of Brachythoraci". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 176 (4): 806–834. doi:10.1111/zoj.12356. ISSN 0024-4082.
