Qingmenodus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Early Devonian

| taxon = Qingmenodus

| authority = Lu & Zhu, 2010

| type_species = †Qingmenodus yui

| type_species_authority = Lu & Zhu, 2010

}}

Qingmenodus is a genus of prehistoric lobe-finned fish. Fossils of Qingmenodus were found in China and date back to the Early Devonian period. Qingmenodus reveals the first well-ossified otoccipital braincase in onychodonts. Palaeontologists believe that Qingmenodus was one of the oldest onychodont fish.{{cite journal |doi= 10.1098/rspb.2009.0708 |last1= Lu|first1= Jing|last2= Zhu|first2= Min|year= 2010|title= An onychodont fish (Osteichthyes, Sarcopterygii) from the Early Devonian of China, and the evolution of the Onychodontiformes|journal= Proceedings of the Royal Society B|volume= 277|issue= 1679|pages= 293–299 |pmid= 19515665 |pmc= 2842670}}

File:Qingmenodus.jpg

Relationships

A study of additional new fossils of Qingmenodus in a larger phylogenetic analysis of Sarcopterygii including new neurocranial characters supported placing onychodontiforms as stem-coelacanths, within Actinistia.Lu, J., et al. 2016. A Devonian predatory fish provides insights into the early evolution of modern sarcopterygians. Science Advances, vol. 2, no. 6, e1600154, doi:10.1126/sciadv.1600154

References