Eusthenopteron

Eusthenopteron
Temporal range: Late Devonian,
Life restoration of Eusthenopteron foordi
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Sarcopterygii
Clade: Tetrapodomorpha
Clade: Eotetrapodiformes
Family: Tristichopteridae
Genus: Eusthenopteron
Whiteaves, 1881
Species
  • E. foordi (type)
  • E. farloviensis
  • E. jenkinsi
  • E. obruchevi
  • E. savesoderberghi
  • E. traquairi
  • E. wenjukowi

Eusthenopteron (from Greek: εὖ , 'good', Greek: σθένος sthénos, 'strength', and Greek: πτερόν pteron 'wing' or 'fin') is a genus of prehistoric sarcopterygian (often called "lobe-finned") fishes known from several species that lived during the Late Devonian period, about 385 million years ago. It has attained an iconic status from its close relationship to tetrapods. Early depictions of animals of this genus show them emerging onto land, but paleontologists now widely agree that eusthenopteron species were strictly aquatic animals.

The genus was first described by J. F. Whiteaves in 1881, as part of a large collection of fishes from Miguasha, Quebec, Canada. Some 2,000 Eusthenopteron specimens have been collected from Miguasha, one of which was the object of intensely detailed study and several papers by paleoichthyologist Erik Jarvik between the 1940s and the 1990s.

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