Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
211 / Paleozoic
Panderichthys
Panderichthys rhombolepis
A flat head with upward-facing eyes and limb-like bones inside its fins brought it close to the earliest tetrapods.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 380 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Devonian
- Geographic range
- Shallow delta water · Present-day Latvia
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Panderichthys?
Panderichthys (Panderichthys rhombolepis) was an extinct organism known from About 380 million years ago, with a range in Shallow delta water · Present-day Latvia.
Life and ecology
Panderichthys remained a fish with fins and gills, but had a flattened body, reduced dorsal fins and robust pectoral skeleton. It probably ambushed prey in weedy, oxygen-poor shallows.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Panderichthys disappear?
Late Devonian crises are the broad setting in which this branch disappears, while related forms continued toward tetrapods; a specific cause is not established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Panderichthys?
Skulls and fin bones preserve humerus-, radius- and ulna-like elements; CT imaging reveals distal bones within the fin.
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