A 3D braincase of the early jawed vertebrate <i>Palaeospondylus</i> from Australia.

ABSTRACT: Palaeospondylus gunni Traquair, 1890, is represented by thousands of similarly preserved articulated fossils from the Achannaras quarry (∼390 Mya) in Caithness, Scotland. With radically different interpretations of its structure, it has been assigned to almost all major jawless and jawed vertebrate groups. Here we report a new and older species of Palaeospondylus from the Early Devonian of Australia (c. 400 Ma), investigated using high-resolution computed tomography. Its 3D-preserved braincase demonstrates a combination of primitive gnathostome features including an anteriorly positioned transverse cranial fissure of uncertain homology, a large dorsal fontanelle and a small hypophysial fossa. Contrary to recent interpretations of P. gunni, the new braincase shows that

SUBMITTER: Burrow CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11970237 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature