''Neopetalichthys yenmenpaensis'' is an extinct petalichthid

placoderm Placoderms (from Ancient Greek πλάξ 'plax'', ''plakos'''Plate (animal anatomy), plate' and δέρμα 'derma'''skin') are vertebrate animals of the class (biology), class Placodermi, an extinct group of prehistoric fish known from Pal ...

from the Early

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Fossils

The holotype and only known specimen is a poorly preserved partial, and elongated skull from Emsian-aged strata in

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

. The skull may be around in length.

Phylogeny

Denison 1978 questions ''Neopetalichthys''' placement within Petalichthyida, regarding it as Placodermi ''incertae sedis'', though he does acknowledge that the skull has anatomical features in common with petalichthyids.). According to Zhu's 1991 redescription of ''

Diandongpetalichthys ''Diandongpetalichthys liaojiaoshanensis'' is an extinct petalichthyid placoderm from the Early Devonian of China. Fossils Several specimens, in the forms of one complete and several incomplete skull roofs, disarticulated portions of the trunk s ...

'',Zhu, M. "New information on ''Diandongpetalichthys'' (Placodermi: Petalichthyida)." Early vertebrates and related problems of evolutionary biology. Science Press, Beijing (1991): 179-192. ''Neopetalichthys''' status as a petalichthyid is confirmed, though, in that study, it is regarded as a basal ''incertae sedis''. '' Quasipetalichthys'' is possibly closely related to ''Neopetalichthys'', and may or may not be placed together within Quasipetalichthyidae.

References

Enigmatic placoderm taxa Fossil taxa described in 1973 Placoderms of Asia Petalichthyida Placoderm genera {{Placoderm-stub