Eusthenopteron

Eusthenopteron

 genus of extinct lobe-finned fishes (crossopterygians (crossopterygian)) preserved as fossils in rocks of the late Devonian Period (about 370 million years ago). Eusthenopteron was near the main line of evolution leading to the first terrestrial vertebrates, the tetrapods. It was 1.5 to 1.8 metres (5 to 6 feet) long and was an active carnivore, with numerous small teeth in its broad skull.

      The overall pattern of the skull bones is similar to that of early tetrapods, but the vertebral column was not very well developed in that the vertebral arches were not strongly fused to the vertebral spools, and the arches did not interlock between vertebrae, as they do in tetrapods. The shoulder girdle was still attached to the skull, but the hip girdle was only rudimentary and was not attached to the vertebral column. The fleshy fins had a series of stout bones supporting them, including elements that correspond to the limb bones of modern land vertebrates—the humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia, and fibula. However, the limbs ended in a series of bony rays much like those supporting the fins of ray-finned fishes (actinopterygians) today. Eusthenopteron was not built for land life; rather, it seems to have lived in shallow fresh to brackish waterways, where it could have clambered among rocks and plants in search of food. It obtained oxygen in two ways—by breathing it from the air with its lungs and by absorbing it from the water through its gills.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Eusthenopteron — Eusthenopteron …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Eusthenopteron — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda ? Eusthenopteron Rango fósil: Devónico …   Wikipedia Español

  • Eusthenopteron — ? † Eusthenopteron Окаменелость Eusthenopteron foordi Научная классификация …   Википедия

  • Eusthenopteron — Rekonstruktion des Lebensbildes Zeitraum Oberdevon 385 Mio. Jahre Fundorte Europa Nordamerika Systematik …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • eusthenopteron — ● eusthenopteron nom masculin (du grec eusthenês, vigoureux) Poisson fossile du dévonien supérieur, crossoptérygien typique, assez semblable à un brochet. (Le squelette des nageoires annonce celui des pattes des premiers amphibiens.) …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Eusthenopteron — Eusthenopte …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Eusthenopteron — Taxobox name = Eusthenopteron fossil range = Late Devonian image width = 240px image caption = life restoration of Eusthenopteron foordi regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata subphylum = Vertebrata classis = Sarcopterygii subclassis =… …   Wikipedia

  • eusthenopteron — eus·the·nop·te·ron …   English syllables

  • eusthenopteron — ˌyüsthəˈnäptəˌrän noun Usage: capitalized Etymology: New Latin, from eustheno (from Greek eusthenēs strong, from eu + sthenēs, from sthenos strength) + Greek pteron wing; from the stron …   Useful english dictionary

  • Erik Jarvik — Anders Erik Vilhelm Jarvik (* 30. November 1907 in Utby, Schweden; † 11. Januar 1998 in Stockholm, Schweden) war ein schwedischer Paläozoologe, der besonders durch seine intensiven Arbeiten über Eusthenopteron foordi (Sarcopterygii) bekannt wurde …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”