Dickosteus is an extinct genus of coccosteid arthrodire placoderm from the Late Eifelian to Early Givetian stages of the Middle Devonian period. Fossils are found in Orkney and Caithness, Scotland. It was a small placoderm with a total body length of 43.7 cm (17.2 in).[1] It is one of the few placoderms for which complete bodies are known.

Dickosteus
Temporal range: Middle Devonian: Late Eifelian to Early Givetian, 393.3–382.7 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Placodermi
Order: Arthrodira
Suborder: Brachythoraci
Family: Coccosteidae
Genus: Dickosteus
Miles & Westoll, 1963
Species
  • Dickosteus threiplandi Miles & Westoll, 1963 (type)

Phylogeny

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Dickosteus is a member of the family Coccosteidae, which belongs to the clade Coccosteomorphi, one of the two major clades within Eubrachythoraci. The cladogram below shows the phylogeny of Dickosteus:[2]

Eubrachythoraci 

References

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  1. ^ Engelman, Russell K. (2023). "A Devonian Fish Tale: A New Method of Body Length Estimation Suggests Much Smaller Sizes for Dunkleosteus terrelli (Placodermi: Arthrodira)". Diversity. 15 (3). 318. doi:10.3390/d15030318.
  2. ^ Zhu, You-An; Zhu, Min; Wang, Jun-Qing (1 April 2016). "Redescription of Yinostius major (Arthrodira: Heterostiidae) from the Lower Devonian of China, and the interrelationships of Brachythoraci". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 176 (4): 806–834. doi:10.1111/zoj.12356. ISSN 0024-4082.