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.
