''Qingmenodus'' is a genus 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 ...

. Fossils of ''Qingmenodus'' were found in China and date back to the

Early Devonian The Early Devonian is the first of three epochs comprising the Devonian period, corresponding to the Lower Devonian series. It lasted from and began with the Lochkovian Stage , which was followed by the Pragian from and then by the Emsian, ...

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 ...

. ''Qingmenodus'' reveals the first well-ossified otoccipital braincase in onychodonts. Palaeontologists believe that ''Qingmenodus'' was one of the oldest onychodont fish.

Relationships

A study of additional new fossils of ''Qingmenodus'' in a larger phylogenetic analysis of Sarcopterygii including new neurocranial characters supported placing onychodontiforms as stem-coelacanths, within Actinistia.Lu, J., et al. 2016. A Devonian predatory fish provides insights into the early evolution of modern sarcopterygians. ''Science Advances'', vol. 2, no. 6, e1600154, doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600154

References

Onychodontida Prehistoric lobe-finned fish genera Devonian bony fish Early Devonian fish Devonian fish of Asia Fossil taxa described in 2010 {{paleo-lobefinned-fish-stub