Tolypelepidida
| Tolypelepidida Temporal range: Silurian - Early Devonian |
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| The type species, Tolypelepis undulata | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Pteraspidomorphi |
| Subclass: | Heterostraci |
| Order: | Tolypelepidida |
| Family: | Tolypelepididae |
| Genera | |
Tolypelepidida is an extinct order of heterostracan vertebrates. These armored jawless fish superficially resemble their relatives, the cyathaspids, though, researchers place the tolypelepids as a sister group to the cyathaspids and the pteraspidids (and both groups' daughter taxa). A recent study by Lundgren and Blom in 2013 implies that the order is paraphyletic, with the type genus, Tolypelepis, being the sister taxon of Cyathaspidiformes. The typical tolypelepid had a carapace formed from dorsal and ventral plates, and a scaly tail.
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