Tolypelepidida

{{Short description|Extinct order of jawless fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Silurian - Early Devonian

| image = Tolypelepis undulata.jpg

| image_caption = The type species, Tolypelepis undulata

| display_parents = 2

| parent_authority = Denison 1964

| taxon = Tolypelepididae

| authority = Kiær 1932

| subdivision_ranks = Genera

| subdivision =

• Asketaspis
• Athenaegis
• Tolypelepis

| synonyms =

• Tolypelepidiformes

}}

Tolypelepidida is an extinct order of heterostracan vertebrates. These armored jawless fish superficially resemble their relatives, the cyathaspids, though, researchers place the tolypelepids as a sister group to the cyathaspids and the pteraspidids (and both groups' daughter taxa).Janvier, Philippe (1997) [http://tolweb.org/Heterostraci/16904 Heterostraci] The Tree of Life Web Project. A recent study by Lundgren and Blom in 2013 implies that the order is paraphyletic, with the type genus, Tolypelepis, being the sister taxon of Cyathaspidiformes.Lundgren, Mette, and Henning Blom. "Phylogenetic relationships of the cyathaspidids (Heterostraci)." GFF 135.1 (2013): 74-84. The typical tolypelepid had a carapace formed from dorsal and ventral plates, and a scaly tail.

File:Athenaegis chattertoni cast.jpg cast, middle Silurian, Road River Formation, Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories (Canada).]]

File:Athenaegis chattertoni - MUSE.jpg. ]]