Pteraspis

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Lochkovian-Eifelian
~{{Fossil range|416|386}}

| image = Pteraspis rostrata restoration.jpg

| image_caption = Restoration of P. rostrata

| taxon = Pteraspis

| authority = Kner, 1847

| type_species = Cephalaspis rostrata

| type_species_authority = Agassiz, 1835

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

P. rostrata (Agassiz, 1835)
P. dixoni (White, 1938)
P. mitchelli (Powrie, 1864)

}}

Pteraspis (from {{langx|el|πτερόν}} {{Transliteration|el|pteron}} 'wing' or 'fin' and {{langx|el|ἀσπίς}} {{Transliteration|el|aspís}} 'shield') is an extinct genus of pteraspidid heterostracan jawless fish. It lived from the Lochkovian to Eifelian epochs of the Devonian period in what is now Brazil (Eifelian Maecuru Formation), Britain (Lochkovian Ditton Group), Ukraine (Lochkovian Ivane Suite, Pragian Babin Sandstone) and Belgium.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Description

File:Pteraspis AMNH.jpg

Like other heterostracan fishes, Pteraspis had a protective armored plating covering the front of its body. Though lacking fins other than its lobed tail, it is thought to have been a good swimmer due to stiff, wing-like protrusions derived from the armoured plates over its gills. This, along with the horn-like rostrum, made Pteraspis very streamlined in shape, which is good for swimming. Pteraspis also had some stiff spikes on its back, possibly an additional form of protection against predators. It is thought to have fed from shoals of plankton just under the ocean surface.{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 23|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}} Some records are found in association with marine fossils,{{Cite journal | last1 = Lankester | first1 = E. R. | title = I.—On a New Cephalaspis Discovered in America, etc | journal = Geological Magazine | volume = 7 | issue = 75 | pages = 397–399 | year = 1870 | doi = 10.1017/S0016756800209485 | bibcode = 1870GeoM....7..397L | s2cid = 140161565 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/2016030 }}{{Cite journal | last1 = White | first1 = E. I. | title = New Pteraspids from South Wales | journal = Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society | volume = 94 | issue = 1–4 | pages = 85–116 | year = 1938 | doi = 10.1144/GSL.JGS.1938.094.01-04.05 | s2cid = 130276490 }} while some others are found in freshwater environment.{{Cite thesis |title=An experimental morphological investigation into the hydrodynamics and locomotion of the Palaeozoic jawless vertebrates Poraspis, Errivaspis and Ateleaspis. |url=https://figshare.le.ac.uk/articles/thesis/An_experimental_morphological_investigation_into_the_hydrodynamics_and_locomotion_of_the_Palaeozoic_jawless_vertebrates_Poraspis_Errivaspis_and_Ateleaspis_/10089050/1 |publisher=University of Leicester |date=2009-07-03 |degree=thesis |language=en |first=Benjamin Evan |last=Davies}}

Pteraspis grew to an estimated length of {{convert|20|cm|in}}.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}