Boreaspis

Boreaspis (meaning "Boreas's Shield") is an extinct genus of osteostracan agnathan vertebrate that lived in the Devonian period.

Boreaspis
Temporal range:
CGI reconstruction of B. rostrata
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: †Osteostraci
Order: †Benneviaspidida
Family: †Boreaspididae
Genus: †Boreaspis
Stensiö, 1927
Species
  • †B. rostrata Stensiö, 1927 (type)
  • †B. batoides Wangsjö, 1952
  • †B. macrorhynchus Wangsjö, 1952
  • †B. puella Wangsjo, 1952
  • †B. spinicornis Wangsjö, 1952
  • †B. triangularis Wangsjö, 1952
  • †"B." ceratops Wangsjo, 1952
  • †"B." intermedia Wangsjö, 1952

Fourteen different species of Boreaspis have been found in sandstone of the lagoons and estuaries of Devonian Spitsbergen; however, some of these likely do not belong to the genus. The species B. robusta and B. costata have been reassigned to Spatulaspis; and B. circinus, B. curtirostris, and B. gracilis now belong to Dicranaspis.

Species of Boreaspis were very small, with head shields about 2 centimetres (0.79 in) long. All species possessed a long spathe-like rostrum derived from the anterior-most end of the head shield, which would have enhanced the fish's hydrodynamics and was probably also used to root out food buried beneath the substrate.

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