Bony-fish-like scales in a Silurian maxillate placoderm
Abstract Major groups of jawed vertebrates exhibit contrasting conditions of dermal plates and scales. But the transition between these conditions remains unclear due to rare information on taxa occupying key phylogenetic positions. The 425-million-year-old fish Entelognathus combines an unusual mos...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43557-9 |
| _version_ | 1797452205745242112 |
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| author | Xindong Cui Matt Friedman Yilun Yu You-an Zhu Min Zhu |
| author_facet | Xindong Cui Matt Friedman Yilun Yu You-an Zhu Min Zhu |
| author_sort | Xindong Cui |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Major groups of jawed vertebrates exhibit contrasting conditions of dermal plates and scales. But the transition between these conditions remains unclear due to rare information on taxa occupying key phylogenetic positions. The 425-million-year-old fish Entelognathus combines an unusual mosaic of characters typically associated with jawed stem gnathostomes or crown gnathostomes. However, only the anterior part of the exoskeleton was previously known for this very crownward member of the gnathostome stem. Here, we report a near-complete post-thoracic exoskeleton of Entelognathus. Strikingly, its scales are large and some are rhomboid, bearing distinctive peg-and-socket articulations; this combination was previously only known in osteichthyans and considered a synapomorphy of that group. The presence in Entelognathus of an anal fin spine, previously only found in some stem chondrichthyans, further illustrates that many characters previously thought to be restricted to specific lineages within the gnathostome crown likely arose before the common ancestor of living jawed vertebrates. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:04:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ebb3e887c80541b3ace37590ad9c9034 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:04:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-ebb3e887c80541b3ace37590ad9c90342023-11-26T13:44:06ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-11-0114111110.1038/s41467-023-43557-9Bony-fish-like scales in a Silurian maxillate placodermXindong Cui0Matt Friedman1Yilun Yu2You-an Zhu3Min Zhu4Key Laboratory of Orogenic Belts and Crustal Evolution, School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking UniversityMuseum of Paleontology and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of MichiganCAS Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of SciencesCAS Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of SciencesCAS Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Major groups of jawed vertebrates exhibit contrasting conditions of dermal plates and scales. But the transition between these conditions remains unclear due to rare information on taxa occupying key phylogenetic positions. The 425-million-year-old fish Entelognathus combines an unusual mosaic of characters typically associated with jawed stem gnathostomes or crown gnathostomes. However, only the anterior part of the exoskeleton was previously known for this very crownward member of the gnathostome stem. Here, we report a near-complete post-thoracic exoskeleton of Entelognathus. Strikingly, its scales are large and some are rhomboid, bearing distinctive peg-and-socket articulations; this combination was previously only known in osteichthyans and considered a synapomorphy of that group. The presence in Entelognathus of an anal fin spine, previously only found in some stem chondrichthyans, further illustrates that many characters previously thought to be restricted to specific lineages within the gnathostome crown likely arose before the common ancestor of living jawed vertebrates.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43557-9 |
| spellingShingle | Xindong Cui Matt Friedman Yilun Yu You-an Zhu Min Zhu Bony-fish-like scales in a Silurian maxillate placoderm Nature Communications |
| title | Bony-fish-like scales in a Silurian maxillate placoderm |
| title_full | Bony-fish-like scales in a Silurian maxillate placoderm |
| title_fullStr | Bony-fish-like scales in a Silurian maxillate placoderm |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bony-fish-like scales in a Silurian maxillate placoderm |
| title_short | Bony-fish-like scales in a Silurian maxillate placoderm |
| title_sort | bony fish like scales in a silurian maxillate placoderm |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43557-9 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT xindongcui bonyfishlikescalesinasilurianmaxillateplacoderm AT mattfriedman bonyfishlikescalesinasilurianmaxillateplacoderm AT yilunyu bonyfishlikescalesinasilurianmaxillateplacoderm AT youanzhu bonyfishlikescalesinasilurianmaxillateplacoderm AT minzhu bonyfishlikescalesinasilurianmaxillateplacoderm |