
Cephalaspis
Sign in to saveCephalaspis (from , 'head' and , 'shield') is a possibly monotypic genus of extinct osteostracan agnathan vertebrate. It was a trout-sized detritivorous fish that lived in the early Devonian.
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- Cephalaspis tenuicornis.jpg
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- Commons category
- Cephalaspis
- taxon name
- Cephalaspis
- start time
- 415000000-
- end time
- 398000000-
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Article
8 sectionsContents
- Description
- Diet
- Classification
- Included species
- Species of ''Cephalaspis'' that have been reassigned
- Other miscellaneous species once assigned to ''Cephalaspis''
- References
- External links
Cephalaspis (from , 'head' and , 'shield') is a possibly monotypic genus of extinct osteostracan agnathan vertebrate. It was a trout-sized detritivorous fish that lived in the early Devonian.
==Description== Like its relatives, Cephalaspis was heavily armored, presumably to defend against predatory placoderms and eurypterids, as well as to serve as a source of calcium for metabolic functions in calcium-poor freshwater environments. It had sensory patches along the rim and center of its head shield, which were used to sense for worms and other burrowing organisms in the mud.