New ptyctodontid placoderm from the Famennian (Upper Devonian) of European Russia

Abstract

Neruchella eichwaldi gen. et sp. nov. is erected on the basis of a head shield found in the Famennian Lebedyanian Regional Stage of the Orel Region, Russia. The new taxon differs from all known ptyctodontids, and is characterized by the central plates in contact along the skull midline, the meeting of the sensory-line canals on the centrals and the loss of the nuchal plate. The structures of the head shields of two Famennian ptyctodontids Neruchella and Chelyophorus are completely different from the general skull bone pattern of older ptyctodontid taxa.