Eusthenopteron
Eusthenopteron
Extinct genus of tetrapodomorphs
Eusthenopteron (from Greek: εὖ eû, 'good', Greek: σθένος sthénos, 'strength', and Greek: πτερόν pteron 'wing' or 'fin')[2] is a genus of prehistoric sarcopterygian (often called "lobe-finned") fishes known from several species that lived during the Late Devonian period, about 385 million years ago. It has attained an iconic status from its close relationship to tetrapods. Early depictions of animals of this genus show them emerging onto land, but paleontologists now widely agree that eusthenopteron species were strictly aquatic animals.[3]
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. (February 2018) |
The genus was first described by J. F. Whiteaves in 1881, as part of a large collection of fishes from Miguasha, Quebec, Canada.[4] Some 2,000 Eusthenopteron specimens have been collected from Miguasha, one of which was the object of intensely detailed study and several papers by paleoichthyologist Erik Jarvik between the 1940s and the 1990s.[5]