Heterostraci and Podolaspis
Fish
Lower Devonian (Pridolian)
Dniester Formation
Zalishchyky, Podolia, Ukraine

Two large shields (74mm and 60mm) plus parts on big 229mm matrix

Podolaspis was an armored jawless fish belonging to the extinct subclass, Heterostraci, aka the heterostracans.  This fish is known from the bony shields that protected parts of its body and is so far known only from the Devonian of Ukraine.

Heterostracans were very diverse during the Silurian but they died out by the end of the Devonian. Their shields have been found in the United States, Canada, and Europe – regions that were at or even south of the equator during the Early Devonian.

This specimen is for the fish collector looking for a more substantial specimen of a Paleozoic jawless fish and for the vertebrate collector looking for a piece representing the stage in vertebrate evolution not long after the development of a mineralized skeleton.