''Blieckaspis priscillae'' is a

pteraspidid Pteraspididae is an extinct family of heterostracan vertebrates. It is an Early Devonian-aged family that contains the stereotypical, torpedo-shaped pteraspidids, such as the type genus, ''Pteraspis'', and its close relatives '' Errivaspis'' and ...

heterostracan Heterostraci (Ancient Greek, ἕτερος+ὄστρακον "those itha different shell" i is pl. of -us is an extinct subclass of pteraspidomorph jawless vertebrate that lived primarily in marine and estuary environments. Heterostraci exi ...

agnatha Agnatha (, Ancient Greek 'without jaws') is an infraphylum of jawless fish in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, consisting of both present (cyclostomes) and extinct ( conodonts and ostracoderms) species. Among recent animals, cyclosto ...

n from the Middle

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. ''Blieckaspis priscillae'' was originally described by Robert Denison from incomplete remains from Late Emsian-aged marine strata in Water Canyon,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, as a member of the genus ''Protaspis'', naming it after one Priscilla Turnbull. As more, successively better preserved fossils were found, Denison later revised his findings and placed ''Protaspis priscillae'' into ''Pteraspis'' in 1970. In 1984, Alain Blieck further revised ''P. priscillae'''s classification, and placed it tentatively into ''Errivaspis''. In 1996, after studying even better preserved material found in Late Emsian-aged strata of the

Lost Burro Formation The Lost Burro Formation is a Middle to Upper/Late Devonian geologic formation in the Mojave Desert of California in the Western United States. Geology The Dolomite formation is exposed in sections of the Darwin Hills, the Santa Rosa Hills, ...

in Death Valley, California,"Death Valley National Park," Hunt, Santucci, and Kenworthy (2010); page 63.Hunt, ReBecca K., Vincent L. Santucci and Jason Kenworthy. 2006. "A preliminary inventory of fossil fish from National Park Service units." in S.G. Lucas, J.A. Spielmann, P.M. Hester, J.P. Kenworthy, and V.L. Santucci (ed.s), Fossils from Federal Lands. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 34, pp. 63–69. Elliott & Ilyes erected a new genus, ''Blieckaspis'', in honor of Blieck, for "P." ''priscillae''.Elliott, David K., and Robert R. Ilyes. "New Early Devonian pteraspidids (Agnatha, Heterostraci) from Death Valley National Monument, southeastern California." Journal of Paleontology (1996): 152-161.

References

Pteraspidiformes genera Devonian jawless fish Middle Devonian animals Devonian animals of North America Devonian fish of North America Devonian California Devonian geology of Utah Death Valley National Park Natural history of the Mojave Desert Paleontology in California Fossil taxa described in 1996 {{Paleo-jawless-fish-stub