Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
522 / Paleozoic
Doryaspis
Doryaspis nathorsti
A spear-like rostrum and lateral horns projected from this jawless armored fish.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 410–395 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Devonian
- Geographic range
- Delta and shallow sea · Svalbard
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Doryaspis?
Doryaspis (Doryaspis nathorsti) was an extinct organism known from About 410–395 million years ago, with a range in Delta and shallow sea · Svalbard.
Life and ecology
It moved close to the bottom and used a ventral mouth to gather particles and tiny animals.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Doryaspis disappear?
The expansion of jawed fishes and changing shallow waters are commonly linked to the decline of heterostracans, but no cause specific to Doryaspis is established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Doryaspis?
Armor and body impressions constrain rostrum, gill openings and fin folds.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS