Weigeltaspis

Weigeltaspis is a genus of extinct heterostracan agnathan fish known from the Late Silurian and Early Devonian periods. Fossils are known primarily from Early Devonian-aged marine strata of Europe and Canada. Fragments and disarticulated plates of what may be of Weigeltaspis are known from Late Silurian-aged marine strata of Arctic Canada. Rare articulated fossils, plus the overall anatomy of its plates suggest the living animals were, at least superficially, similar to psammosteids, some authorities, such as Tarlo, place them within Psammosteida. Because the ornamentation on the plates and scales are very similar to the ornamentation seen on the plates and scales of Traquairaspis to the point of constant confusion, other authorities follow the lead of Obruchev, and place Weigeltaspis within Traquairaspidiformes. Still other authorities remain unconvinced of either side, and, instead, follow Denison's lead to simply treat Weigeltaspis as incertae sedis.

Weigeltaspis

Apokryltaros · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
WeigeltaspidaePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Chordata

Time the record covers

At most 32 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 419.62 Mya and 387.95 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Silurian — about 0 of 9 occurrencesDevonian — about 9 of 9 occurrencesDevonian420–419 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences419–418 Mya — about 2 occurrences418–417 Mya — about 2 occurrences417–416 Mya — about 1 occurrence416–415 Mya — about 1 occurrence415–414 Mya — about 1 occurrence414–413 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences413–411 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences411–410 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences410–409 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences409–408 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences408–407 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences407–406 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences406–405 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences405–404 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences404–403 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences403–402 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences402–400 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences400–399 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences399–398 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences398–397 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences397–396 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences396–395 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences395–394 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences394–393 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences393–392 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences392–391 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences391–390 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences390–388 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences388–387 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences420.3 Mya387.3 Mya

9 occurrences of Weigeltaspis on record, most of them in the Devonian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

9 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

6 formations

Dniester — 48.69°N, 25.62°EDniester — 48.80°N, 25.61°EOld Red Sandstone — 51.86°N, 2.73°WPeel Sound — 73.79°N, 98.58°WFreshwater West — 52.48°N, 2.64°WPsammosteus Limestone — 52.52°N, 2.54°WIvanie — 48.67°N, 25.76°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Weigeltaspis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Weigeltaspis and its relatives

Devonian

Where Weigeltaspis and its relatives were recorded in the Devonian.

Found in the same rock

88 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 9 sites for Weigeltaspis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

6 references

Each of the 9 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Weigeltaspis

Credit
Apokryltaros
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Weigeltaspis was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itWeigeltaspidae through timeFormations of the DevonianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Brotzen 1933