''Obruchevichthys'' is an extinct
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of stem-
tetrapod
A tetrapod (; from Ancient Greek :wiktionary:τετρα-#Ancient Greek, τετρα- ''(tetra-)'' 'four' and :wiktionary:πούς#Ancient Greek, πούς ''(poús)'' 'foot') is any four-Limb (anatomy), limbed vertebrate animal of the clade Tetr ...
from
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
during the Late
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 ...
. When the
jawbone, the only known
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
of this creature, was uncovered in
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
, it was mistaken as a
lobe-fin fish. However, when it was analyzed, it proved to hold many similarities to ''
Elginerpeton'', from
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. It was then declared belonging to the earliest group of tetrapods.
References
External links
''Devonian Times'' article on ''Obruchevichthys gracilis''
Further reading
* ''Gaining Ground: The Origin and Early Evolution of Tetrapods'' by Jennifer A. Clack
* ''Origins of the Higher Groups of Tetrapods: Controversy and Consensus'' by Hans-Peter Schultze and
Linda Trueb
* ''Air-Breathing Fishes: Evolution, Diversity, and Adaptation'' by Jeffrey B. Graham
Stegocephali
Prehistoric lobe-finned fish genera
Late Devonian sarcopterygians
Devonian sarcopterygians of Europe
Transitional fossils
Fossil taxa described in 1977
Fauna of Latvia
Frasnian genera
{{Paleo-tetrapodomorph-stub