Editing Pterichthyodes

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Middle Devonian|ref=<ref name="dk" />}}
| image = Exhibit Museum of Natural History, Ann Arbor - IMG 9165.JPG
| image_caption=''Pterichthyodes milleri'' fossil on display at the [[University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History]]
| parent_authority = Stensiö, 1948
| taxon = Pterichthyodes
| authority = Bleeker, 1859
| type_species = †''Pterichthyodes milleri''
| synonyms = †''Pterichthys''
| range_map = Pterichthyodes finds map.png
| range_map_alt = A map of the United Kingdom area, with Scotland colored
| range_map_caption = {{legend|#00c6ff|Areas where ''Pterichthyodes'' has been found}}
}}

'''''Pterichthyodes''''' is a [[genus]] of [[antiarch]] [[placoderm]] fishes from the [[Devonian]] period. Its fossils have been discovered in [[Scotland]].<ref name="dk">{{cite book | title=Prehistoric Life: The Definitive Visual History of Life on Earth | publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] | author=Palmer, Douglas | year=2009 | location=New York | isbn=978-0-7566-5573-0 | page=134 | edition=first American|display-authors=etal}}</ref> They were one of the first [[species]] recognized for what they were, as their [[fossil]]s are common in the [[Old Red Sandstone]] formation studied by [[geologist]]s in the early 19th century. Due to their extreme divergence from modern-day fish, they were a puzzle unsolved until [[Charles Darwin]] brought forward his theories on [[evolution]].{{citation needed|date=November 2013}}



== Description ==
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Pterichthyodes oblongus (cropped).jpg
| image2            = Pterichthyodes oblongus fossil and plaster model (cropped).jpg
| direction         = vertical
| align             = left
| caption1          = From Lethen, Nairnshire, Scotland.
| caption2          = Next to a 1953 plaster model.
}}
As with all other antiarchs, ''Pterichthyodes'' had heavily armored heads and forebodies, while their scaly tails were unarmored. Specimen length ranges from {{convert|8|in|cm}} to {{convert|12|in|cm}}.<ref name="dk" /> As placoderms, they were members of the [[Gnathostome|earliest known vertebrates to possess]] [[jaw]]s, though they had grinding plates rather than teeth. The generic name of ''Pterichthyodes'' refers directly to their odd wing-like appendages ("pterichthys" being a compound [[crassis]] word from Ancient [[Greek language|Greek]] for "wing-fish"), which correspond to and were derived from the pectoral fins seen in modern fish and other non-antiarch placoderms. Fossils of ''Pterichtyodes'' showing eyes positioned on the direct of the head and a "ventrally flattened [[Trunk (anatomy)|trunk]] shield" suggest that it was a "bottom dweller", living at the bottom of lakes, where it might have crawled using its pectoral appendages.<ref name="dk" /> It has also been theorized that ''Pterichthyodes'' and other antiarchs used these appendages to bury itself.<ref name="vp">{{cite book | chapter=Early Palaeozoic Fishes | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyJO3vpCk8AC&pg=PA58 | title=Vertebrate Palaeontology | publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell Publishing]] | author=Benton, Michael J. | authorlink=Michael Benton | year=2005 | chapter-format=Google eBook | edition=third | location=Malden, Massachusetts | pages=58, 63 | isbn=0-632-05637-1}}</ref>

''Pterichthyodes'' would have fed by browsing shallower areas of the lake bed for decaying detritus.<ref name="vp" />
{{Multiple image
| image1            = Pterichthys.jpg
| caption1          = 1876
| image2            = F John Series 1 Pterichthys card 30.jpg
| caption2          = 1902, with an outdated terrestrial depiction.
| header            = Artistic Reconstructions
| image3            = Pterichthyodes milleri.jpg
| caption3          = 2009
| align             = center
| total_width       = 660
}}
{{clear left}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Portal|Paleontology}}
{{Antiarchi}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q719429}}

[[Category:Placoderm genera]]
[[Category:Placoderms of Europe]]
[[Category:Antiarchi]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1859]]