Elpistostegalia

E841966

Elpistostegalia is an extinct group of lobe-finned fishes that includes transitional forms closely related to the earliest tetrapods and the water-to-land evolutionary shift.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf clade
extinct taxon
sarcopterygian group
ancestralTo Tetrapoda NERFINISHED
approximateAgeMa ~385–360 million years ago
associatedWith water-to-land transition
belongsToGroup lobe-finned fishes
class Sarcopterygii NERFINISHED
closelyRelatedTo early tetrapods
ecologicalRole shallow-water predator
evolutionaryRole transitional between fishes and tetrapods
fossilsFoundIn Australia NERFINISHED
Canada NERFINISHED
Euramerica NERFINISHED
Greenland NERFINISHED
Latvia NERFINISHED
Laurentia NERFINISHED
North America NERFINISHED
habitat coastal wetlands
deltaic environments
shallow freshwater or brackish environments
hasCharacteristic dorsally placed eyes
flattened skull
limb-like endoskeleton in fins
loss or reduction of dorsal fin
reduced median fins
ribs capable of supporting body
robust pectoral fins
shallow-water adaptations
importantFor understanding fish–tetrapod transition
understanding origin of tetrapod limbs
isExtinct true
kingdom Animalia
livedDuring Devonian period NERFINISHED
Paleozoic era
notableMember Elpistostege NERFINISHED
Panderichthys NERFINISHED
Tiktaalik NERFINISHED
partOf stem-tetrapod radiation
phylum Chordata
showsTransitionOf paired fins to limbs
respiratory structures from gills to air-breathing adaptations
skull and neck mobility
studiedIn vertebrate paleontology
subphylum Vertebrata NERFINISHED
superclass Sarcopterygii NERFINISHED
taxonomicRank clade
temporalRange Late Devonian

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Sarcopterygii hasNotableGroup Elpistostegalia