Bothriolepis

Searched as Bothriolepis cf. kwantungensis. The Paleobiology Database treats Bothriolepis as the accepted name.

Bothriolepis was a widespread, abundant and diverse genus of antiarch placoderms that lived during the Middle to Late Devonian period of the Paleozoic Era. Historically, Bothriolepis resided in an array of paleo-environments spread across every paleocontinent, including near shore marine and freshwater settings. Most species of Bothriolepis were characterized as relatively small, benthic, freshwater detritivores, averaging around 30 centimetres (12 in) in length. However, the largest species, B. rex, had an estimated bodylength of 170 centimetres (67 in). Although expansive with over 60 species found worldwide, comparatively Bothriolepis is not unusually more diverse than most modern bottom dwelling species around today.

Bothriolepis

Hectonichus · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
BothriolepididaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Placodermi
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Placodermi
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Placodermi

Time the record covers

At most 5.6 million years on record.

The one occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 393.47 Mya and 387.95 Mya, which is a dating window rather than a span.

Devonian — about 1 of 1 occurrenceDevonian394–393 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences393–393 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences393–393 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences393–393 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences393–392 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences392–392 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences392–392 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences392–392 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences392–392 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences392–391 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences391–391 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences391–391 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences391–391 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences391–390 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences390–390 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences390–390 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences390–390 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences390–390 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences390–389 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences389–389 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences389–389 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences389–389 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences389–389 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences389–388 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences388–388 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences388–388 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences394 Mya387.4 Mya

1 occurrence of Bothriolepis on record, most of them in the Devonian. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Kush Yeilagh — 36.85°N, 55.35°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Bothriolepis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Bothriolepis and its relatives

Devonian

Where Bothriolepis and its relatives were recorded in the Devonian.

Found in the same rock

417 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 106 sites for Bothriolepis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

1 reference

Each of the 1 occurrence read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Bothriolepis

Credit
Hectonichus
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itBothriolepididae through timeFormations of the DevonianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Eichwald 1840