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Agnatha (/ ˈ æ ɡ n ə θ ə, æ ɡ ˈ n eɪ θ ə /; [3] from Ancient Greek ἀ-(a-) 'without' and γνάθος (gnáthos) 'jaws') is a paraphyletic infraphylum [4] of non-gnathostome vertebrates, or jawless fish, in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, consisting of both living (cyclostomes) and extinct (conodonts, anaspids, and ostracoderms, among others).
Anaspids were small marine agnathans that lacked heavy bony shield and paired fins, but have a striking highly hypocercal tail. They first appeared in the Early Silurian, and flourished until the Late Devonian extinction, [17] where most species, save for lampreys, became extinct due to the environmental upheaval during that time.
Since then, opinions on the relations among jawless vertebrates have varied. Most workers have come to regard Agnatha as paraphyletic, having given rise to the jawed fishes. Because of shared features such as paired fins, the origins of the jawed vertebrates may lie close to Cephalaspidomorphi.
Anaspids were small, primarily marine agnathans that lacked heavy bony shield and paired fins, but have highly exaggerated hypocercal tails. They first appeared in the Early Silurian , and flourished until the Late Devonian extinction , [ 26 ] where most species, save for lampreys , became extinct.
They also had sucking mouth parts and some species may have lived in fresh water. Most pteraspidomorphs were marine, but lived very near to the shore, in lagoons and deltas. Some groups are thought to have been fresh water-dwelling. They were certainly bottom-dwellers, as shown by traces of abrasion of the ventral surfaces of their headshields.
Furcacauda is a genus of thelodontid agnathan from the Lower Devonian of Canada, and is the type genus of the order Furcacaudiformes. [2] Furcacaudiform thelodontids were deep water jawless vertebrates with symmetrical fork and lobed-finned tails and scales smaller than typical loganellid and nikoliviid thelodonti scales. [1]
The fish also has much longer lower pectoral-fin rays, the fins on the side of the body. The fins are “extended” and more full compared to other scorpionfish that live in the area, the ...
At the same time, they adapted the bony fins of the lobe-finned fishes into two pairs of walking legs, carrying the weight of the body via the shoulder and pelvic girdles. [ 22 ] Vertebrates vary in size from the smallest frog species such as Brachycephalus pulex , with a minimum adult snout–vent length of 6.45 millimetres (0.254 in) [ 23 ...