''Arandaspis prionotolepis'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
species of
jawless fish that lived in the
Ordovician period, about 480 to 470 million years ago. Its remains were found in the
Stairway Sandstone near
Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in 1959, but it was not determined that they were the oldest known vertebrates until the late 1960s. ''Arandaspis'' is named after a local
Aboriginal
Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to:
*Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology
* Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area
*One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...
tribe, the Aranda (now currently called
Arrernte).
Description
''Arandaspis'' was about long, with a streamlined body covered in rows of knobbly armoured
scutes. The front of the body and the head were protected by hard plates with openings for the eyes, nostrils and
gills. It probably was a
filter-feeder.
It had no fins; its only method of propulsion was the use of its vertically flattened tail. As a result, it probably swam in a fashion similar to a modern
tadpole.
See also
* ''
Astraspis''
* ''
Sacabambaspis''
References
Pteraspidomorphi genera
Ordovician jawless fish
Prehistoric fish of Australia
Early Ordovician genus first appearances
Early Ordovician genus extinctions
Fossil taxa described in 1977
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