Animalia > Chordata > Ptyctodontidae > Materpiscis

Materpiscis

Wikipedia Abstract

Materpiscis (Latin for mother fish) is a genus of ptyctodontid placoderm (a class of extinct, superficially shark-like armored fishes) from the Late Devonian located at the Gogo Formation of Western Australia. Known from only one specimen, it is unique in having an unborn embryo present inside Materpiscis, and with remarkable preservation of a mineralised placental feeding structure (umbilical cord). This makes Materpiscis the oldest known vertebrate to show viviparity, or giving birth to live young.
View Wikipedia Record: Materpiscis

Species

External References

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0