Stensiopelta pustulata janveir and Cephalaspis kozlowskii
Location: Podolia, Ukraine
Age: Dniester Series, Old Red Formation, Lower Devonian
Specimen 1
FOSSIL Fish Osteostracan Devonian Podolia Ukraine s16
Item number: 310091199775
Price: US $2,700.00 (buy it now)
Seller Carnelian Collectibles (ebay)
FOSSIL Fish Osteostracan Devonian Podolia Ukraine
Item #: s16
Name: one each Stensiopelta pustulata janveir, 3 each Cephalaspis kozlowskii; Zenaspidida, Osteostraci
Location: Podolia, Ukraine
Age: Dniester Series, Old Red Formation, Lower Devonian
Size: 14 1/2 “H X 8″W X 1 1/2″D
Weight: 5.85 lb
Condition: Excellent
This is a Museum Quality specimen that would make a wonderful addition to a fine collection. This large plate from a classic Ukrainian locality in Podolia has been beautifully prepared. It shows the classic features of the head shield of one of the earliest primitive armored fish.
The oseostracans were a group of jawless armored fish represented in the fossil record by approxmately 200 species which lived from about 430 mya (Silurian) to about 370 mya (Late Devonian). Most of them had a massive horseshoe shaped head with dorsal (on top of their head) close set eyes, a pineal foramen (so-called third “eye” or sensory organ), and a keyhole shaped nasal opening. Their mouth and gill openings were ventral (underneath). They had large paired pad shaped fins. They ranged in size from 4 centemeters to 1 meter in length. They were probably bottom feeders and some may have ventured into freshwater environments. Another interesting feature of their head was that it had several depressed areas that were covered on the exterior with a mosaic of tiny platelets that were connected to the inner ear by large branching canals. These may have been either sensory or electrical organs.
Posted by Giuseppe Buono 
