Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
258 / Paleozoic
Drepanaspis
Drepanaspis gemuendenensis
Its body was a flattened shield with upward-facing eyes and a mouth beneath the front edge.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 407 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Devonian
- Geographic range
- Nearshore muddy bays · Hunsrück, Germany
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Drepanaspis?
Drepanaspis (Drepanaspis gemuendenensis) was an extinct organism known from About 407 million years ago, with a range in Nearshore muddy bays · Hunsrück, Germany.
Life and ecology
Drepanaspis was a jawless heterostracan that stayed near the bottom and gathered particles or small invertebrates from the sediment surface.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Drepanaspis disappear?
The expansion of jawed fishes and changing coastal habitats are commonly linked to the decline of armored jawless fishes; no cause specific to Drepanaspis is established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Drepanaspis?
Hunsrück Slate fossils preserve the flat outline, mosaic armor, eye position and tail.
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