An unusual new fossil shark (Pisces: Chondrichthyes) from the Late Devonian of South Africa
- Authors: Anderson, M Eric , Long, John A , Gess, Robert W , Hiller, Norton
- Date: 1999
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73910 , vital:30240 , http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/10. Anderson, Long, Gess, Hiller.pdf
- Description: A new stem-group chondrichthyan fish, PlesioselacJllIs macracanthlls gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Late Devonian Witpoort Formation, representing an estuarine lagoon site, near Grahamstown, South Africa. Based on a single, fairly complete specimen, it is distinctive in its a single dorsal fin braced by a large, stout spine with numerous ribs and posterior denticles, apparently no second dorsal or anal fin, an amphistylic jaw suspension, and a distinctive triangular palatoquadrate. It is suggested that the species may represent a high-latitude, Late Devonian relict taxon.
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New placoderm fishes from the Late Devonian of South Africa
- Authors: Long, John A , Anderson, M Eric , Gess, Robert W , Hiller, Norton
- Date: 1997
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/72763 , vital:30108 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.1997.10010973
- Description: New placoderm fishes are described from a black shale lens in the Famennian Witpoort Formation, near Grahamstown, South Africa. Arthrodires include a new species of Groenlandaspis, G. riniensis sp. nov., a new genus of groenlandaspidid, Africanaspis doryssa gen. et sp. nov., and a new species of the antiarch Bothriolepis, B. africana sp. nov. This is the first record of the ubiquitous genera Bothriolepis and Groenlandaspis from the African continent. The South African placoderm fauna has demonstrable links with the eastern Gondwana faunas in the close affinity of the Bothriolepis africana with B. barred of Antarctica, and the high diversity of groenlandaspid species, especially the presence of a very high crested form having affinities to Tiaraspis.
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The first Bothriolepsis-associated Devonian fish fauna from Africa
- Authors: Anderson, M Eric , Hiller, Norton , Gess, Robert W
- Date: 1994
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/73852 , vital:30235 , https://journals.co.za/content/sajsci/90/7/AJA00382353_5900
- Description: An advanced diplacanthid (Climatiiformes) is described from a Famennian estuarine environment of South Africa. It is characterized by having exceptionally long thin fin spines and a deep body form. Unusual details of the fins and fin spine insertions are preserved. This is the first record of a diplacanthid from the Southern Hemisphere.
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