Andreolepis is an extinct genus of prehistoric fish, which lived around 420 million years ago.[1] It was described by Walter Gross in 1968 based on scales found in the Hemse Formation in Gotland, Sweden.[2] It is placed in the monogeneric family Andreolepididae and is generally regarded as a primitive member of the class Actinopterygii[3] based on its ganoid scale structure; however some new research regards it as a stem group of osteichthyans.[4]
Researchers have used microremains of an Andreolepsis to determine its origins and found that it dated back to the late Silurian.[5]
Andreolepis was capable of shedding its teeth by basal resorption, which is considered a rather primitive mode of tooth replacement.[6] This makes it informative about the evolution of teeth.[6]
Fossil remains are mostly limited to scales, platelets and fragmented bones. At first only the species A. hedei was described. Scales, platelets and a spine from the Central Urals in Russia have thereafter been assigned to a new species, A. petri, due to differences in fossil morphology.[1] Remains have been found in Russia, and A. hedei fossils have also been uncovered in the Hemse Formation of Sweden, the Himmiste Beds Formation of Estonia, Latvia,[1] and the West Khatanzeya Formation of Nova Zemlya, Russia.[3] Other fossils were found in Great Britain, the former of which it was originally described from.[1]Andreolepis fossils have also recently been recovered from Western Australia and were identified as Andreolepis sp. aff. A.petri due to the resemblance to A. petri scales.[7]
^ abcdMärss, T. (2001). "Andreolepis (Actinopterygii) in the upper Silurian of northern Eurasia". Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Geology. 50 (3): 174–189. doi:10.3176/geol.2001.3.03. S2CID 67798212.
^Gross, Walter (1968). "Fraglich Actinopterygier-Schuppen aus den Silur Gotlands". Lethaia. 1 (2): 184–218. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1968.tb01736.x. ISSN 0024-1164.
^ abThe Paleobiology Database
^Botella, Hector; Blom, Henning; Dorka, Markus; Ahlberg, Per Erik; Janvier, Philippe (August 2007). "Jaws and teeth of the earliest bony fishes". Nature. 448 (7153): 583–586. Bibcode:2007Natur.448..583B. doi:10.1038/nature05989. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 17671501. S2CID 4337868.
^Chen, Donglei; Janvier, Philippe; Ahlberg, Per E.; Blom, Henning (August 2012). "Scale morphology and squamation of the Late Silurian osteichthyanAndreolepisfrom Gotland, Sweden". Historical Biology. 24 (4): 411–423. doi:10.1080/08912963.2012.668187. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 84869644.
^ abChen, Donglei; Blom, Henning; Sanchez, Sophie; Tafforeau, Paul; Ahlberg, Per E. (2016-10-17). "The stem osteichthyan Andreolepis and the origin of tooth replacement". Nature. 539 (7628): 237–241. Bibcode:2016Natur.539..237C. doi:10.1038/nature19812. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 27750278. S2CID 205251184.
^Burrow, Carole J.; Turner, Susan; Trinajstic, Kate; Young, Gavin C. (2019-02-27). "Late Silurian vertebrate microfossils from the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 43 (2): 204–219. doi:10.1080/03115518.2019.1566496. ISSN 0311-5518. S2CID 134883695.
originally described from. Andreolepis fossils have also recently been recovered from Western Australia and were identified as Andreolepis sp. aff. A. petri due...
the most basal teleosts. The earliest known fossil actinopterygian is Andreolepis hedei, dating back 420 million years (Late Silurian), remains of which...
from the original on 2020-09-03. Retrieved 2017-12-12. Märss T (2001). "Andreolepis (Actinopterygii) in the upper Silurian of northern Eurasia". Proceedings...
Pimiento et al. (2016). A study on the growth history of the teeth of Andreolepis hedei is published by Chen et al. (2016). A study on the anatomical diversification...