Groenlandaspis

Name: Groenlandaspis (Greenland shield).
Phonetic: Green/Grown-land-as-piss.
Named By: Heintz‭ ‬-‭ ‬1932.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Placodermi,‭ ‬Arthrodira,‭ ‬Groenlandaspidae.
Species: G. mirabilis (type). G. antarctica, G. disjectus, G. pennsylvanica, G. potyi, G. riniensis, G. seni, G. theroni, G. thorezi.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Largest specimens from individuals approaching 50 centimetres in length.
Known locations: Worldwide.
Time period: Late Devonian.
Fossil representation: Multiple individuals.




       Groenlandaspis was first discovered in Greenland,‭ ‬but since this time individual specimens have been found from across Europe,‭ ‬Australia and Antarctica,‭ ‬indicating a possibly global distribution of this genus.‭ ‬Groenlandaspis was an arthrodire placoderm,‭ ‬which means that it had a jointed neck,‭ ‬something that allowed arthordire placoderms to open their mouths very‭ ‬wide.‭ ‬Famous members of the arthrodires include Dunkleosteus,‭ ‬but at seven and a half centimetres long,‭ ‬Groenlandaspis was not the hyper carnivore that Dunkleosteus was.‭ ‬Instead the jaw plates of Groenlandaspis were rounder and more suitable to crushing small invertebrates.‭ ‬This lead to the popular depiction of Groenlandaspis as a bottom feeder that searched through the mud and nooks in rocks looking for prey.

Further reading
- Groenlandaspis in Antarctica, Australia and Europe. - Alexander Ritchie - 1975.
- Groenlandaspidid Placoderm Fishes from the Late Devonian of North America. - Records of the Australian Museum vol 55. - Edward B. Daeschler, Anna C. Frumes & Frederick Mullison - 2003.
- A new species of Groenlandaspis Heintz, 1932 (Placodermi, Arthrodira), from the Famennian (Late Devonian) of Belgium. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 35 (4). - S. Olive, C. Prestianni & V. Dupret - 2015.



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