A new placoderm fish of uncertain affinity from the Early-Middle Devonian Hatchery Creek succession at Wee Jasper, New South Wales

Abstract

A new genus and species of placoderm (Edgellaspis gorteri) has a parallel-sided skull including a deep orbital notch, a large crown-shaped nuchal plate reaching forward past the level of the orbits to contact the pineal plate, and three pairs of sensory grooves meeting at a central point on the nuchal plate. The trunk armour is generally similar to that of actinolepid arthrodires but the new taxon shares significant similarities with various placoderm subgroups that have been aligned with basal nodes of the order Arthrodira, including Antarctaspidae, Wuttagoonaspidae and Phyllolepidae. Its affinities are yet to be resolved.