Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
488 / Paleozoic
Gemuendina
Gemuendina stuertzi
A broad flat placoderm independently converged on the body shape of a ray.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 410–400 million years ago
- Final stage
- Early Devonian
- Geographic range
- Warm shallow seafloor · Germany
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Gemuendina?
Gemuendina (Gemuendina stuertzi) was an extinct organism known from About 410–400 million years ago, with a range in Warm shallow seafloor · Germany.
Life and ecology
Wide pectoral fins carried it above the bottom to take small benthic prey.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Gemuendina disappear?
Devonian fishes diversified, but a younger fauna does not by itself show that they replaced this specialized bottom dweller.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Gemuendina?
Hunsrück Slate outlines preserve armor, fins and tail; coloration remains reconstructed.
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