Melanosteus

Me-la-no-ste-uss.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Melanosteus ‭(‬Black bone‭)‬.

Phonetic

Me-la-no-ste-uss.

Named By

H.‭ ‬Leli�vre,‭ ‬R.‭ ‬Feist,‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Goujet‭ & ‬A.‭ ‬Blieck‭ ‬-‭ ‬1987

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Placodermi,‭ ‬Arthrodira,‭ ‬Coccosteina,‭ ‬Dinichthyloidea,‭ ‬Selenosteidae.

Diet

Carnivore‭?

Species

M.‭ ‬occitanus,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬indica

Size

Skull about‭ ‬5‭ ‬centimetres long.

Known locations

Canada‭?‬.‭ ‬France.‭ ‬India‭ ‬-‭ ‬Shiala Formation.

Time Period

Silurian to Frasnian of the Devonian.

Fossil representation

Skulls.

In Depth

       Melanosteus seems to have been a fairly small genus of arthrodire placoderm fish that had a near global distribution early from the Silurian to Devonian periods.‭ ‬As an arthrodire placoderm fish,‭ ‬Melanosteus was likely a predator of other aquatic organisms.‭ ‬Melanosteus was named after the Montagne Noire‭ (‬Black Mountains‭) ‬of France near where the first fossils were discovered.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬Les vert�br�s de la Montagne Noire‭ (‬Sud de la France‭) ‬et leur apport � la phylog�nie des Pachyost�omorphes‭ (‬Placodermes,‭ ‬Arthrodires‭)‬.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Palaeovertebrata‭ ‬17:‭ ‬1‭–‬16.‭ ‬-‭ ‬H.‭ ‬Leli�vre,‭ ‬R.‭ ‬Feist,‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Goujet‭ & ‬A.‭ ‬Blieck‭ ‬-‭ ‬1987. -‭ ‬A new melanosclerite,‭ ‬Melanosteus indica nov.‭ ‬sp.‭ (?‬Cnidaria‭) ‬from the Shiala Formation of the Garhwal Tethyan Himalaya,‭ ‬India.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Micropaleontology vol‭ ‬57‭ ‬no‭ ‬6‭ ‬pp531-535.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Claudia Trampisch‭ & ‬Hareshwar N.‭ ‬Sinha‭ ‬-‭ ‬2011.

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