Editing Devonian (section)

==Life==

===Marine biota===
[[File:Fish evolution.png|thumb|300px|right|Spindle diagram for the evolution of vertebrates<ref>{{cite book |last=Benton |first=M. J. |date=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VThUUUtM8A4C&q=Benton+2005+%22%27Vertebrate+Palaeontology%22 |title=Vertebrate Palaeontology |publisher=John Wiley |edition=3rd |isbn=9781405144490 |page=14}}</ref>]]
{{see also|Evolution of fish#Devonian: Age of fishes}}

Sea levels in the Devonian were generally high. Marine faunas continued to be dominated by [[conodonts]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Corradini |first1=Carlo |last2=Corriga |first2=Maria G. |last3=Pondrelli |first3=Monica |last4=Suttner |first4=Thomas J. |date=1 July 2020 |title=Conodonts across the Silurian/Devonian boundary in the Carnic Alps (Austria and Italy) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018218301718 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |series=Global Events impacting COnodont evolution |volume=549 |pages=109097 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.02.023 |bibcode=2020PPP...54909097C |issn=0031-0182 |access-date=11 November 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[bryozoa|bryozoans]],<ref name="InfluenceAtrypid">{{cite journal |last1=Bose |first1=Rituparna |last2=Schneider |first2=Chris L. |last3=Leighton |first3=Lindsey R. |last4=Polly |first4=P. David |date=1 October 2011 |title=Influence of atrypid morphological shape on Devonian episkeletobiont assemblages from the lower Genshaw formation of the Traverse Group of Michigan: A geometric morphometric approach |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018211004305 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=310 |issue=3–4 |pages=427–441 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.08.004 |bibcode=2011PPP...310..427B |access-date=4 April 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref> diverse and abundant [[brachiopod]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Zhong-Qiang |date=2 September 2023 |title=Devonian–Carboniferous brachiopod zonation in the Tarim Basin, northwest China: implications for biostratigraphy and biogeography |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gj.967 |journal=[[Geological Journal]] |volume=39 |issue=3–4 |pages=431–458 |doi=10.1002/gj.967 |s2cid=129628791 |access-date=4 April 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the enigmatic [[hederellid]]s,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Michal |first1=Mergl |year=2021 |title=Dead or alive? Brachiopods and other shells as substrates for endo- and sclerobiont activity in the Early Devonian (Lochkovian) of the Barrandian |url=https://otik.uk.zcu.cz/handle/11025/46568 |journal=Bulletin of Geosciences |volume=96 |issue=4 |pages=401–429 |access-date=4 April 2023}}</ref> [[microconchida|microconchids]],<ref name="InfluenceAtrypid" /> and [[coral]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zapalski |first1=Mikołaj K. |last2=Baird |first2=Andrew M. |last3=Bridge |first3=Tom |last4=Jakubowicz |first4=Michał |last5=Daniell |first5=James |date=4 February 2021 |title=Unusual shallow water Devonian coral community from Queensland and its recent analogues from the inshore Great Barrier Reef |journal=Coral Reefs |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=417–431 |doi=10.1007/s00338-020-02048-9 |s2cid=234012936 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zatoń |first1=Michał |last2=Borszcz |first2=Tomasz |last3=Berkowski |first3=Błażej |last4=Rakociński |first4=Michał |last5=Zapalski |first5=Mikołaj K. |last6=Zhuravlev |first6=Andrey V. |date=15 April 2015 |title=Paleoecology and sedimentary environment of the Late Devonian coral biostrome from the Central Devonian Field, Russia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018215000772 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=424 |pages=61–75 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.02.021 |bibcode=2015PPP...424...61Z |access-date=4 April 2023|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Lily-like [[crinoid]]s (animals, their resemblance to flowers notwithstanding) were abundant, and [[trilobite]]s were still fairly common. [[Bivalvia|Bivalves]] became commonplace in deep water and outer shelf environments.<ref name=" Nagel-Myers2022">{{cite journal |last1=Nagel-Myers |first1=Judith |date=5 August 2021 |title=An updated look at the taxonomy, stratigraphy, and palaeoecology of the Devonian bivalve genus Ontario Clarke, 1904 (Cardiolidae, Bivalvia) |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12549-021-00491-2? |journal=Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments |volume=102 |issue=3 |pages=541–555 |doi=10.1007/s12549-021-00491-2 |s2cid=236921239 |access-date=8 November 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The first ammonites also appeared during or slightly before the early Devonian Period around 400&nbsp;Ma.<ref>{{cite web |title=Palaeos Paleozoic: Devonian: The Devonian Period – 1|url=http://palaeos.com/paleozoic/devonian/devonian.html|website=Palaeos|last1=Kazlev|first1=M. Alan|date=May 28, 1998|access-date=24 January 2019}}</ref> [[Bactritida|Bactritoids]] make their first appearance in the Early Devonian as well; their radiation, along with that of ammonoids, has been attributed by some authors to increased environmental stress resulting from decreasing oxygen levels in the deeper parts of the water column.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Klug |first1=Christian |last2=Kroeger |first2=Bjoern |last3=Korn |first3=Dieter |last4=Ruecklin |first4=Martin |last5=Schemm-Gregory |first5=Mena |last6=De Baets |first6=Kenneth |last7=Mapes |first7=Royal H. |date=April 2008 |title=Ecological change during the early Emsian (Devonian) in the Tafilalt (Morocco), the origin of the Ammonoidea, and the first African pyrgocystid edrioasteroids, machaerids and phyllocarids |url=https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/ecological-change-during-the-early-emsian-devonian-in-the-tafilal |journal=Palaeontographica Abteilung A |volume=283 |issue=4–6 |pages=83–U58 |doi=10.1127/pala/283/2008/83 |bibcode=2008PalAA.283...83K |access-date=8 November 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Among vertebrates, jawless armored fish ([[ostracoderm]]s) declined in diversity, while the jawed fish (gnathostomes) simultaneously increased in both the sea and [[fresh water]]. Armored placoderms were numerous during the early ages of the Devonian Period and became extinct in the Late Devonian, perhaps because of competition for food against the other fish species. Early cartilaginous ([[Chondrichthyes]]) and bony fishes ([[Osteichthyes]]) also become diverse and played a large role within the Devonian seas. The first abundant genus of cartilaginous fish, ''[[Cladoselache]]'', appeared in the oceans during the Devonian Period. The great diversity of fish around at the time has led to the Devonian being given the name "The Age of Fishes" in popular culture.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dalton |first1=Rex |title=Hooked on fossils |journal=Nature |date=January 2006 |volume=439 |issue=7074 |pages=262–263 |doi=10.1038/439262a|pmid=16421540 |s2cid=4357313 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[File:Gessetal2023_environment_reconstruction.png|thumb|The Devonian period saw the development of early sharks, armoured [[placoderm]]s and various [[lobe-finned fish]]es including the [[Rhipidistia|tetrapod transitional species]]]]

[[File:Diorama of a Devonian seafloor - corals, coiled cephalopod, gastropod, crinoids (44933262614).jpg|thumb|Diorama of a Devonian seafloor]]

The Devonian saw significant expansion in the diversity of [[nekton]]ic marine life driven by the abundance of planktonic microorganisms in the free water column as well as high ecological competition in benthic habitats, which were extremely saturated; this diversification has been labeled the ''Devonian Nekton Revolution'' by many researchers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Klug |first1=Christian |last2=Kröger |first2=Björn |last3=Kiessling |first3=Wolfgang |last4=Mullins |first4=Gary L. |last5=Servais |first5=Thomas |last6=Frýda |first6=Jiří |last7=Korn |first7=Dieter |last8=Turner |first8=Susan |date=26 October 2010 |title=The Devonian nekton revolution |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1502-3931.2009.00206.x |journal=Lethaia |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=465–477 |doi=10.1111/j.1502-3931.2009.00206.x |bibcode=2010Letha..43..465K |access-date=3 September 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, other researchers have questioned whether this revolution existed at all; a 2018 study found that although the proportion of biodiversity constituted by nekton increased across the boundary between the Silurian and Devonian, it decreased across the span of the Devonian, particularly during the Pragian, and that the overall diversity of nektonic taxa did not increase significantly during the Devonian compared to during other geologic periods, and was in fact higher during the intervals spanning from the Wenlock to the Lochkovian and from the Carboniferous to the Permian. The study's authors instead attribute the increased overall diversity of nekton in the Devonian to a broader, gradual trend of nektonic diversification across the entire Palaeozoic.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whalen |first1=Christopher D. |last2=Briggs |first2=Derek E. G. |date=18 July 2018 |title=The Palaeozoic colonization of the water column and the rise of global nekton |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=285 |issue=1883 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2018.0883 |pmid=30051837 |pmc=6083262 }}</ref>

===Reefs===
A now-dry barrier reef, located in present-day [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley Basin]] of northwest [[Australia]], once extended {{cvt|350|km}}, fringing a Devonian continent.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tyler |first1=Ian M. |last2=Hocking |first2=Roger M. |last3=Haines |first3=Peter W. |title=Geological evolution of the Kimberley region of Western Australia |journal=Episodes |date=1 March 2012 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=298–306 |doi=10.18814/epiiugs/2012/v35i1/029|doi-access=free }}</ref> Reefs are generally built by various [[carbonate]]-secreting organisms that can erect wave-resistant structures near sea level. Although modern reefs are constructed mainly by corals and calcareous [[algae]], Devonian reefs were either microbial reefs built up mostly by [[autotrophic]] [[cyanobacteria]] or coral-stromatoporoid reefs built up by coral-like [[Stromatoporoidea|stromatoporoids]] and tabulate and [[Rugosa|rugose corals]]. Microbial reefs dominated under the warmer conditions of the early and late Devonian, while coral-stromatoporoid reefs dominated during the cooler middle Devonian.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Joachimski |first1=M.M. |last2=Breisig |first2=S. |last3=Buggisch |first3=W. |last4=Talent |first4=J.A. |last5=Mawson |first5=R. |last6=Gereke |first6=M. |last7=Morrow |first7=J.R. |last8=Day |first8=J. |last9=Weddige |first9=K. |title=Devonian climate and reef evolution: Insights from oxygen isotopes in apatite |journal=Earth and Planetary Science Letters |date=July 2009 |volume=284 |issue=3–4 |pages=599–609 |doi=10.1016/j.epsl.2009.05.028|bibcode=2009E&PSL.284..599J }}</ref>

===Terrestrial biota===
[[File:Prototaxites milwaukeensis.jpg|thumb|150px|''Prototaxites milwaukeensis'', a large fungus, initially thought to be a marine alga, from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin]]
By the Devonian Period, life was well underway in its colonization of the land. The [[moss]] forests and [[bacteria]]l and algal mats of the Silurian were joined early in the period by primitive rooted plants that created the first stable [[soil]]s and harbored arthropods like [[mite]]s, [[scorpion]]s, [[Trigonotarbida|trigonotarbids]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Garwood |first1=Russell J. |last2=Dunlop |first2=Jason |date=July 2014 |title=The walking dead: Blender as a tool for paleontologists with a case study on extinct arachnids |url=https://www.academia.edu/7625529 |journal=[[Journal of Paleontology]] |volume=88 |issue=4 |pages=735–746 |doi=10.1666/13-088 |bibcode=2014JPal...88..735G |s2cid=131202472 |issn=0022-3360 |access-date=2015-07-21}}</ref> and [[Myriapoda|myriapods]] (although arthropods appeared on land much earlier than in the Early Devonian<ref name="Garwood">{{cite journal |last1=Garwood |first1=Russell J. |last2=Edgecombe |first2=Gregory D. |date=September 2011 |title=Early Terrestrial Animals, Evolution, and Uncertainty |journal=Evolution: Education and Outreach |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=489–501 |doi=10.1007/s12052-011-0357-y |df=dmy-all|doi-access=free }}</ref> and the existence of fossils such as ''[[Protichnites]]'' suggest that amphibious arthropods may have appeared as early as the [[Cambrian]]). By far the largest land organism at the beginning of this period was the enigmatic ''[[Prototaxites]]'', which was possibly the fruiting body of an enormous fungus,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hueber |first1=Francis M. |title=Rotted wood-alga fungus: The history and life of ''Prototaxites'' Dawson 1859 |journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |year=2001 |volume=116 |issue=1–2 |pages=123–159 |doi=10.1016/s0034-6667(01)00058-6|bibcode=2001RPaPa.116..123H }}</ref> rolled liverwort mat,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Graham |first1=Linda E. |last2=Cook |first2=Martha E. |last3=Hanson |first3=David T. |last4=Pigg |first4=Kathleen B. |last5=Graham |first5=James M. |title=Rolled liverwort mats explain major ''Prototaxites'' features: Response to commentaries |journal=American Journal of Botany |year=2010 |volume=97 |issue=7 |pages=1079–1086 |doi=10.3732/ajb.1000172 |pmid=21616860|doi-access=free |bibcode=2010AmJB...97.1079G }}</ref> or another organism of uncertain affinities<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Taylor |first1=Thomas N. |last2=Taylor |first2=Edith L. |last3=Decombeix |first3=Anne-Laure |last4=Schwendemann |first4=Andrew |last5=Serbet |first5=Rudolph |last6=Escapa |first6=Ignacio |last7=Krings |first7=Michael |title=The enigmatic Devonian fossil ''Prototaxites'' is not a rolled-up liverwort mat: Comment on the paper by Graham et al.(AJB 97: 268–275) |journal=American Journal of Botany |year=2010 |volume=97 |issue=7 |pages=1074–1078 |doi=10.3732/ajb.1000047 |pmid=21616859|doi-access=free |bibcode=2010AmJB...97.1074T |hdl=11336/97957 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> that stood more than {{convert|8|metres|feet}} tall, and towered over the low, carpet-like vegetation during the early part of the Devonian. Also, the first possible fossils of [[insect]]s appeared around 416&nbsp; Ma, in the Early Devonian. Evidence for the earliest [[tetrapod]]s takes the form of trace fossils in shallow lagoon environments within a marine carbonate platform/shelf during the Middle Devonian,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Niedźwiedzki |year=2010 |title=Tetrapod trackways from the early middle Devonian period of Poland |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=463 |issue=7277 |pages=43–48 |doi=10.1038/nature08623 |bibcode=2010Natur.463...43N |pmid=20054388|s2cid=4428903 }}</ref> although these traces have been questioned and an interpretation as fish feeding traces (''[[Piscichnus]]'') has been advanced.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lucas |year=2015 |title=Thinopus and a Critical Review of Devonian Tetrapod Footprints |journal=[[Ichnos (journal)|Ichnos]] |volume=22 |issue=3–4 |pages=136–154 |doi=10.1080/10420940.2015.1063491|bibcode=2015Ichno..22..136L |s2cid=130053031 }}</ref>

====The greening of land====
{{main|Devonian explosion}}
[[File:Devonianscene-green.jpg|thumb|The Devonian Period marks the beginning of extensive land colonization by [[plant]]s. With large land-dwelling [[herbivore]]s not yet present, large forests grew and shaped the landscape.]]
Many [[List of Early Devonian land plants|Early Devonian plants]] did not have true roots or leaves like extant plants, although vascular tissue is observed in many of those plants. Some of the early land plants such as ''[[Drepanophycus]]'' likely spread by vegetative growth and spores.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Ying-ying |last2=Xue |first2=Jin-Zhuang |last3=Liu |first3=Le |last4=Wang |first4=De-ming |title=Periodicity of reproductive growth in lycopsids: An example from the Upper Devonian of Zhejiang Province, China |journal=Paleoworld |year=2016 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=12–20 |doi=10.1016/j.palwor.2015.07.002}}</ref> The earliest land plants such as ''[[Cooksonia]]'' consisted of leafless, [[Dichotomous branching|dichotomous]] axes with terminal sporangia and were generally very short-statured, and grew hardly more than a few centimetres tall.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gonez |first1=Paul |last2=Gerrienne |first2=Philippe |title=A new definition and a lectotypification of the genus ''Cooksonia'' Lang 1937 |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |year=2010 |volume=171 |issue=2 |pages=199–215 |doi=10.1086/648988|bibcode=2010IJPlS.171..199G |s2cid=84956576 }}</ref> Fossils of ''[[Armoricaphyton|Armoricaphyton chateaupannense]]'', about 400 million years old, represent the oldest known plants with [[wood]]y tissue.<ref name="Chateau">{{cite web | url=https://www.lightsource.ca/news/details/analyzing_the_worlds_oldest_woody_plant_fossil.html | title=Analyzing the World's Oldest Woody Plant Fossil | publisher=[[Canadian Light Source]] | date=28 August 2019 | access-date=19 May 2021 | last=MacPherson | first=C. | archive-date=14 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414132810/https://www.lightsource.ca/news/details/analyzing_the_worlds_oldest_woody_plant_fossil.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> By the Middle Devonian, shrub-like forests of primitive plants existed: [[Lycopodiophyta|lycophytes]], [[Equisetales|horsetails]], [[fern]]s, and [[progymnosperm]]s evolved. Most of these plants had true roots and leaves, and many were quite tall. The earliest-known trees appeared in the Middle Devonian.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1674051.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704130342/http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1674051.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 July 2008 |newspaper=The Times |location=London |title=Fossil from a forest that gave Earth its breath of fresh air |first=Lewis |last=Smith |date=April 19, 2007 |access-date=May 1, 2010 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> These included a lineage of lycopods and another arborescent, woody vascular plant, the [[Cladoxylopsida|cladoxylopsids]] and progymnosperm ''[[Archaeopteris]]''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first1=C. Michael |last1=Hogan |date=2010 |url=http://www.eoearth.org/article/Fern?topic=49480 |title=Fern |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Earth |editor-first1=Saikat |editor-last1=Basu |editor-first2=C. |editor-last2=Cleveland |publisher=National Council for Science and the Environment |location=Washington DC}}</ref> These [[tracheophyte]]s were able to grow to large size on dry land because they had evolved the ability to biosynthesize [[lignin]], which gave them physical rigidity and improved the effectiveness of their vascular system while giving them resistance to pathogens and herbivores.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weng |first1=Jing-Ke |last2=Chapple |first2=Clint |title=The origin and evolution of lignin biosynthesis: Tansley review |journal=New Phytologist |date=July 2010 |volume=187 |issue=2 |pages=273–285 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03327.x|pmid=20642725 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In [[Eifelian]] age, cladoxylopsid trees formed the first forests in Earth history.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Davies, Neil S., McMahon, William J. and Berry, Christopher M.|year=2024|url=https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/166971/1/davies-et-al-2024-earth-s-earliest-forest-fossilized-trees-and-vegetation-induced-sedimentary-structures-from-the.pdf|title=Earth's earliest forest: fossilized trees and vegetation-induced sedimentary structures from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian) Hangman Sandstone Formation, Somerset and Devon, SW England|journal=Journal of the Geological Society|volume=181 |issue=4 |doi=10.1144/jgs2023-204|bibcode=2024JGSoc.181..204D |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309154116/https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/166971/1/davies-et-al-2024-earth-s-earliest-forest-fossilized-trees-and-vegetation-induced-sedimentary-structures-from-the.pdf|archive-date=2024-03-09|url-status=live}}</ref> By the end of the Devonian, the first seed-forming plants had appeared. This rapid appearance of many plant groups and growth forms has been referred to as the Devonian Explosion or the Silurian-Devonian Terrestrial Revolution.<ref name="SilurianDevonianTerrestrialRevolution">{{cite journal |last1=Capel |first1=Elliot |last2=Cleal |first2=Christopher J. |last3=Xue |first3=Jinzhuang |last4=Monnet |first4=Claude |last5=Servais |first5=Thomas |last6=Cascales-Miñana |first6=Borja |date=August 2022 |title=The Silurian–Devonian terrestrial revolution: Diversity patterns and sampling bias of the vascular plant macrofossil record |journal=[[Earth-Science Reviews]] |volume=231 |page=104085 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2022.104085 |bibcode=2022ESRv..23104085C |s2cid=249616013 |doi-access=free |hdl=20.500.12210/76731 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

The 'greening' of the continents acted as a [[carbon sink]], and [[Atmosphere of Earth|atmospheric concentrations]] of [[carbon dioxide]] may have dropped. This may have cooled the climate and led to a massive [[extinction event]]. (''See'' [[Late Devonian extinction]]).

{{gallery
|align=center
|width=200
|height=180
|File: Lycopod axis.jpg|Lycopod axis (branch) from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin
|File: Cladoxylopsid bark.jpg|Bark (possibly from a cladoxylopsid) from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin
}}

====Animals and the first soils====
Primitive arthropods co-evolved with this diversified terrestrial vegetation structure. The evolving co-dependence of insects and seed plants that characterized a recognizably modern world had its genesis in the Late Devonian Epoch. The development of soils and plant root systems probably led to changes in the speed and pattern of [[erosion]] and sediment deposition. The rapid evolution of a terrestrial ecosystem that contained copious animals opened the way for the first [[vertebrate]]s to seek terrestrial living. By the end of the Devonian, arthropods were solidly established on the land.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gess |first1=R.W. |year=2013 |title=The earliest record of terrestrial animals in Gondwana: A scorpion from the Famennian (Late Devonian) Witpoort Formation of South Africa |url=http://africaninvertebrates.org/ojs/index.php/AI/article/view/284 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906073206/http://africaninvertebrates.org/ojs/index.php/AI/article/view/284 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=6 September 2013 |journal=[[African Invertebrates]] |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=373–379 |doi=10.5733/afin.054.0206|bibcode=2013AfrIn..54..373G |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Gallery===
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Dunkleosteus terrelli 2024 reconstruction.jpg|''[[Dunkleosteus]]'', one of the largest armoured fish ever to roam the planet, lived during the Late Devonian
File:Titanichthys clarki (2024).png|''[[Titanichthys]]'', a [[Planktivore|planktivorous]] [[Arthrodira|arthrodire]] from the [[Famennian]] of the [[Cleveland Shale]] of [[Ohio]].
File:Eastmanosteus pustulosus.jpg|Lower jaw of ''[[Eastmanosteus]] pustulosus'' from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin
File:Onychodus.jpg|Tooth of the lobe-finned fish ''[[Onychodus]]'' from the Middle Devonian of Wisconsin
File:Bothriolepis canadensis (2024).png|''[[Bothriolepis]]'', a diverse [[Antiarchi|antiarch]] [[genus]] that lived from the Mid to Late Devonian.
File:Devonianfishes ntm 1905 smit 1929.gif|Shark-like ''[[Cladoselache]]'', several [[Sarcopterygii|lobe-finned fishes]], including ''[[Eusthenopteron]]'' that was an early marine tetrapodomorph, and the placoderm ''[[Bothriolepis]]'' in a painting from 1905
File:Melocrinites nodosus spinosus.jpg|''Melocrinites nodosus spinosus'', a spiny, stalked [[crinoid]] from the Middle Devonian of [[Wisconsin]]
File:PhacopidDevonian.jpg|Enrolled phacopid [[trilobite]] from the Devonian of Ohio
File:AuloporaDevonianSilicaShale.jpg|The common tabulate coral ''[[Aulopora]]'' from the Middle Devonian of Ohio – view of colony encrusting a [[brachiopod]] valve
File:Tropidoleptus carinatus.jpg|''Tropidoleptus carinatus'', an orthid brachiopod from the Middle Devonian of New York
File:Pleurodictyum americanum Kashong.jpg|''[[Pleurodictyum|Pleurodictyum americanum]]'', a unique [[Tabulata|Tabulate]] coral, Kashong Shale, Middle Devonian of New York
File:HederelloidSEM.jpg|SEM image of a [[Hederellid|hederelloid]] from the Devonian of Michigan (largest tube diameter is 0.75&nbsp;mm)
File:HederellaOH3.jpg|Devonian spiriferid brachiopod from [[Ohio]] which served as a host substrate for a colony of hederelloids
File:Prototaxites Dawson1888.PNG|''[[Prototaxites]]'', an 8-meter genus of [[fungus]].
</gallery>