''Devonosteus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine

lobe-finned fish Sarcopterygii (; )—sometimes considered synonymous with Crossopterygii ()—is a clade (traditionally a class or subclass) of vertebrate animals which includes a group of bony fish commonly referred to as lobe-finned fish. These vertebrates ar ...

known from the

Late Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era during the Phanerozoic eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian period at million years ago ( Ma), to the beginning of the succeeding ...

. It contains a single species, ''D. proteus'' from the late

Frasnian The Frasnian is one of two faunal stages in the Late Devonian Period. It lasted from million years ago to million years ago. It was preceded by the Givetian Stage and followed by the Famennian Stage. Major reef-building was under way during ...

of Wildungen, Germany. It has sometimes been considered a

lungfish Lungfish are freshwater vertebrates belonging to the class Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining ancestral characteristics within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and ancestral structures within Sarcopterygii, inc ...

of the family Holodontidae, but this remains uncertain as the original specimen may be lost. Alternatively, it may be a tristichopterid, a type of basal

tetrapodomorph Tetrapodomorpha (also known as Choanata) is a clade of vertebrates consisting of tetrapods (four-limbed vertebrates) and their closest sarcopterygian relatives that are more closely related to living tetrapods than to living lungfish. Advanced for ...

References

Tristichopteridae Prehistoric lobe-finned fish genera Devonian sarcopterygians of Europe Frasnian genera Fossils of Germany Taxa named by Otto Jaekel Fossil taxa described in 1927 {{paleo-lobefinned-fish-stub

See also

References