''Diplocercides'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of prehistoric

lobe-finned fish Sarcopterygii (; ) — sometimes considered synonymous with Crossopterygii () — is a taxon (traditionally a class or subclass) of the bony fishes known as the lobe-finned fishes. The group Tetrapoda, a mostly terrestrial superclass includ ...

belonging to the

coelacanth The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...

group (

Actinistia The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...

Coelacanthimorpha The coelacanths ( ) are fish belonging to the order Actinistia that includes two extant species in the genus ''Latimeria'': the West Indian Ocean coelacanth (''Latimeria chalumnae''), primarily found near the Comoro Islands off the east coast ...

) which lived during the Late Devonian

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

(between 370 and 397 million years). Fossils of ''Diplocercides'' have been found in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, Australia and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

(and possibly in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1937). In 2010, three-dimensional fossils of ''Diplocercides'' were described from the

Gogo Formation The Gogo Formation in the Kimberley region of Western Australia is a Lagerstätte that exhibits exceptional preservation of a Devonian reef community. The formation is named after Gogo Station, a cattle station where outcrops appear and fossil ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Long & Trinajstic 2010

Species of ''Diplocercides''

* ''D. davisi'' Moy-Thomas, 1937 * ''D. heiligenstockiensis'' Jessen, 1966 * ''D. kayseri''

von Koenen The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple Preposition and postposition, preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''. Nobility directo ...

, 1895 * ''D. jaekeli'' Stensiö, 1922

References

Bibliography

*LONG, J.A. & TRINAJSTIC, K. 2010. The Late Devonian Gogo Formation Lagerstatte –Exceptional preservation and Diversity in early Vertebrates. ''Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences'' 38: 665-680

External links

Diplocercides
at Palaeos. Prehistoric lobe-finned fish genera Devonian bony fish Carboniferous bony fish Fossils of Ireland Devonian Australia Fossils of Australia Gogo fauna Fossil taxa described in 1922 {{paleo-lobefinned-fish-stub