Daniel Goujet

• Full Professor
• Professor Emeritus at Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle

Placoderms (Devonian fossil fishes) are resolved phylogenetically to the base of jawed vertebrates and provide important evidence for evolutionary origins of teeth, particularly with respect to the Arthrodira. The arthrodires represent a derived group of placoderms; the dentition of other more primitive placoderms such as the acanthothoracids is le...

Placoderms are considered as the first jawed vertebrates and constitute a paraphyletic group in the stem-gnathostome grade. The acanthothoracid placoderms are among the phylogenetically most basal and morphologically primitive gnathostomes, but their neurocranial anatomy is poorly understood. Here we present a near-complete three-dimensional skull...

Anatomical abbreviations used in the figures. (XLS)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, filling of the internal structures and rotation around the specimen. (0400–0750 (Nouveau).avi: Maya Autodesk; 25 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of the endocranial cavity. olaf_002: Mimics; 5,28 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of the right inner ear. olaf_006: Mimics; 8,61 MB. (AVI)

Remark concerning the myodomes and the extrinsic muscles in the orbit. (DOC)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, complete run-through (contrasted) (complete_runthrough_contrasted_avi.avi; 19,8 MB). ImageJ. (AVI)

Skull of Romundina stellina Ørvig, 1975. Specimen MNHN.F.CPW6. A. Dorsal view. B. Left lateral view. C. anterior view. D. posterior view. Scale bar 10 mm. Notice in B the light in the foramen for the pituitary vein indicating that it opens in a canal opening in the right orbit. (TIF)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of the dermal bone and perichondral bone vasculature (vertical_rotation.avi; VG StudioMax, SS and PT). (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, apparition of the 3D model emerging from below the photograph of the actual specimen. The dermal skull roof opens to reveal the internal perichondral structures. 0001–0125 (nouveau).avi: Maya Autodesk; 3,88 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation around the internal perichondral bone ossification, revealing the lace pattern. 0125–400 (nouveau).avi: Maya Autodesk; 21,3 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1,: rotation of model with external perichondral bone opaque. olaf_004; Mimics;16,9 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of model with external perichondral bone semitransparent. olaf_005; Mimics;16,9 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of left inner ear. olaf_007; Mimics; 8,35 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of opaque dermal bone of the skull roof. olaf_012; Mimics; 14 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, endocranial cavity filled plus cranial nerves plus part of the sensory line system. olaf_020: Mimics; 7,73 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of external perichondral bone semitransparent with internal vacularization opaque. olaf_021; Mimics; 12,1 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of endocranial cavity, inner ears and right endolymphatic duct. olaf_019; Mimics; 10,5 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of model without external perichondral and dermal bone. olaf_003; Mimics;11,4 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of dermal bone vasculature, nerves, arteries and veins. olaf_010; Mimics; 12,5 MB. (AVI)

Romundina stellina, MNHN.F.CPW1, rotation of specimen semitransparent showing inner structures. olaf_018; Mimics; 16,3 MB. (AVI)

In situ rare-earth element (REE) compositions have been measured in early vertebrate microremains from the Lower Devonian basin of Andrée Land (Svalbard), with the aim of obtaining information about their early depositional environment and potential reworking. Vertebrate microremains with different histology were used for the analyses, sourced from...

Three chondrichthyan radiations are registered in the Famennian of the ArdenneMassif (Belgium). These radiations are already observed in Morocco and in the Carnic Alps, their acme being related with the early expansa transgression. Comparisons of univariate statistical descriptors like Margalef richness and Shannon–Wiener diversity index show varia...

The skull roof growth of Arabosteus variabilis (Acanthothoraci), from the Pragian-Early Emsian of Saudi Arabia is studied on the basis of well-preserved growth lines on the dermal plates. A clear tendency towards growth in length, i.e. allometry in length, can be observed for all studied skull roof plates of Arabosteus variabilis as well as for the...

Three chondrichthyan radiations are registered in the Famennian of the Ardenne Massif (Belgium). These radiations are already observed in Morocco and in the Carnic Alps, their acme being related with the early expansa transgression. Comparisons of univariate statistical descriptors like Margalef richness and Shannon–Wiener diversity index show vari...

The same tempo of shark radiations in Famennian levels suggests the same transgressive pulses on northern Gondwana and southern Laurussia margins. The acme observed in the Upper Famennian both in Morocco and in the Ardennes (Derycke, 2014; Derycke et al., under review) seems related to the early expansa transgression already noticed in the Holy Cro...

The same tempo of shark radiations in Famennian levels suggests the same transgressive pulses on northern Gondwana and southern Laurussia margins. The acme observed in the Upper Famennian both in Morocco and in the Ardennes (Derycke, 2014; Derycke et al., under review) seems related to the early expansa transgression already noticed in the Holy Cro...

The same tempo of shark radiations in Famennian levels suggests the same transgressive pulses on northern Gondwana and southern Laurussia margins. The acme observed in the Upper Famennian both in Morocco and in the Ardennes (Derycke, 2014; Derycke et al., under review) seems related to the early expansa transgression already noticed in the Holy Cro...

Extant vertebrates form two clades, the jawless Cyclostomata (lampreys and hagfishes) and the jawed Gnathostomata (all other vertebrates), with contrasting facial architectures. These arise during development from just a few key differences in the growth patterns of the cranial primordia: notably, the nasal sacs and hypophysis originate from a sing...

Extant vertebrates form two clades, the jawless Cyclostomata (lampreys and hagfishes) and the jawed Gnathostomata (all other vertebrates), with contrasting facial architectures. These arise during development from just a few key differences in the growth patterns of the cranial primordia: notably, the nasal sacs and hypophysis originate from a sing...

We have studied vertebrate microremains from the Lower to Middle Devonian of the Andrée Land Group, comprising the Wood Bay and Grey Hoek formations. We have defined two new thelodont assemblages, which represent different depositional phases during the late Early to early Middle Devonian formation of the Andrée Land Group. The definition of these...

We have studied vertebrate microremains from the Lower to Middle Devonian of the Andrée Land Group, comprising the Wood Bay and Grey Hoek formations. We have defined two new thelodont assemblages, which represent different depositional phases during the late Early to early Middle Devonian formation of the Andrée Land Group. The definition of these...

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the "Content") contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and v...

Scales of six thelodont taxa are described from the Devonian of Spitsbergen. Numerous samples from localities widely dispersed on Spitsbergen yield several assemblages considered to represent different depositional phases of the late Lower lower Middle Devonian of the Andrée Land Group, but also support the view that certain lithostratigraphic unit...

ABsTrACT Articulated squamations of Loganellia scotica (Traquair, 1898) from the Lower Silurian Lesmahagow inliers of southern Scotland have been studied. They include seven articulated specimens, three of them representing complete th-elodont fossils, and four partially preserved postpectoral, precaudal and caudal parts of the exoskeleton. All the...

The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database an...

Cumulative number of valid species of terrestrial and freshwater multicellular animals recorded in Europe. Numbers of valid species described since Linnaeus (1758) are plotted against the description year for selected phyla, major classes and major insect orders. These groups are not of equivalent taxonomic rank but were divided as such to demonstr...

The Lower and Middle Devonian of northwestern Spitsbergen (Savalbard, Norvegian Arctics) is one of the best examples of vertebrate implication in stratigraphy and palaeobasin analysis. Previous studies of the Red Bay Group (Lochkovian, Lower Devonian) made a notable analysis of the earliest Devonian vertebrate record, and their use in biostratigrap...

Un nouveau placoderme (Acanthothoraci) du Dévonien inférieur de la Formation de Jauf (Arabie Saoudite). Un nouvel Acanthothoraci (Placodermi) du Dévonien inférieur d'Arabie Saoudite (Qasr Limestone Member, Jauf Formation), exceptionnellement bien conservé, présentant un endocrâne et un toit crânien complets, est décrit en tant qu'Arabosteus variabi...

Studies of fossils collected from the Nictaux–Torbrook and Bear River synclines (Nova Scotia) allow a reexamination of the Siluro-Devonian stratigraphy of the Meguma terrane. The location of this terrane relative to the main paleocontinents of the circumatlantic domain during this period is discussed. Wenlockian, Ludlovian, and Pridolian biostratig...

Previously undescribed Emsian vertebrates from southern Algeria (southern Ahaggar) include a new chondrichthyan Tassiliodus lessardi n. gen., n. sp. with multicuspidate teeth and scales with a distinctive histology. Th is is the fi rst Emsian chondrichthyan taxon reported from the north-western margin of Gondwana. Rare acanthodian scales are assign...

Non-professional taxonomists have been responsible for describing more than half of the animal species discovered in Europe from 1998 to 2007 (see also Nature 467, 788; 2010). The extraordinary current rate of description of new species makes Europe an unexpected frontier for biodiversity exploration. The Fauna Europaea database (www.faunaeur.org),...

The Placodermi (armored jawed fishes), which appeared during the Lower Silurian and disappeared without leading any descendants at the end of the Famennian (Latest Devonian), have the highest diversity of known Devonian vertebrate groups. As phylogenetically basal gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates), they are potentially informative about primitive ja...

A unique ‘buchanosteid’ arthrodire specimen from Emsian limestones at Burrinjuck represents the complete articulated remains of the head and cheek, and most of the trunk armor bones from a single fish, together with well-ossified braincase and jaw cartilages. The structure of the toothplates and jaws are described, and compared with primitive brach...

The myelin sheath was a transformative vertebrate acquisition, enabling great increases in impulse propagation velocity along axons. Not all vertebrates possess myelinated axons, however, and when myelin first appeared in the vertebrate lineage is an important open question. It has been suggested that the dual, apparently unrelated acquisitions of...

The European Union has adopted the ambitious target of halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010. Several indicators have been proposed to assess progress towards the 2010 target, two of them addressing directly the issue of species decline. In Europe, the Fauna Europaea database gives an insight into the patterns of distribution of a total dataset...

A new genus of ‘actinolepid’ arthrodire placoderm, Erikaspis, is named to contain “Kujdanowiaspis” zychi Stensiö, 1945, from the Lochkovian–Pragian deposits (Lower Devonian) of Podolia (Ukraine). This new genus occurs together with the genus Kujdanowiaspis Stensiö, 1942, to which its type species was previously assigned. Distinctive ornamentation a...

Material collected in 1969 by the CNRS-MNHN expedition to Spitsbergen includes a new species of Gigantaspis, G. minima, which is the smallest known species of this genus. The revision of Gigantaspis leads to the inclusion of Zascinaspis laticephala Blieck and Goujet in this genus. The phylogenetic analysis presented herein suggests that Gigantaspis...

For the first time, dipnoan remains are described from the Devonian of Spitsbergen. According to the stratigraphy and the associated vertebrate fauna, they are considered as Late Emsian-Early Eifelian in age. Unfortunately remains are too sketchy and non-diagnostic to be referred or compared to a known Devonian dipnoan. This new material, determine...

Abstract Unbeknownst to many historians of biology, the first biogeographical map was published in the third edition of the Flore française by Lamarck and Candolle in 1805, the same year in which Humboldt's famous Essai sur la Geographie appeared. Lamarck and Candolle's map marks the beginning of a descriptive or classificatory biogeography focusin...

Scales of nine thelodont taxa are described from the Red Bay Group of Spitsbergen, also characterized by its assemblage of other typical Early Devonian vertebrates. The four thelodont-bearing horizons of the lower Fraenkelryggen Formation yield typical Lochkovian thelodont assemblages, containing Boreania minima, Canonia grossi, Nikolivia depressa...

Placoderms are a group of fossil true jawed fishes restricted to the Middle Palaeozoic period (Silurian and Devonian). Their head and body are covered with an assemblage of bony plates in a box‐like manner up to the anal region. They were the dominant forms in the seas of the time, with more than 300 species present in all continents. Nine groups h...

The presence of an aerial breathing organ in Placoderms is noticed in many textbooks on the history of breathing in Vertebrates. The origin of this interpretation is from a paper published in 1941 dealing with the interpretation of the differential sedimentary infilling of the armour of the antiarch Bothriolepis canadensis from the Late Devonian Es...

The Old Red Sandstone Continent was one of the major landmasses of the Devonian period, as a result of Early Palaeozoic orogenies. Numerous vertebrate-bearing fossiliferous localities are known from this palaeocontinent. They come from lithofacies varying from, e.g., siliciclastic to carbonate. In Lower Devonian rocks, most macrovertebrate remains...

During the last 20 years, thanks to the use of the cladistic methods, the knowledge of the phylogenyof many fossil groups of agnathans, fishes and primitive amphibians was specified. They have been used as biostratigraphic markers, especially in regard with Palaeozoic microremains. They also have been used for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions an...

An estimation of the impact of cladistic concepts on the practice of palaeontology is given, based on the analysis of six international palaeontological journals for the years 1993–1995. As twenty years ago, vertebrate palaeontology is more influenced by cladistics. Yet, nearly all invertebrate groups are touched by cladistic concepts: this proves...

Vertebrate remains are described from Vietnam for the first time from the Silurian (Ludlow-Pridoli boundary). They include a new placoderm, Myducosteus anmaensis nov. gen., nov. sp., which does not belong to any of the major placoderm taxa known to date, and an acanthothoracid placoderm, an acanthodian, and possibly several osteichthyans, including...

During the last 20 years, thanks to the use of the cladistic methods, the knowledge of the phylogeny of many fossil groups of agnathans, fishes and primitive amphibians was specified. They have been used as biostratigraphic markers, especially in regard with Palaeozoic microremains. They also have been used for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions a...

An estimation of the impact of cladistic concepts on the practice of palaeontology is given, based on the analysis of six international palaeontological journals for the years 1993-1995. As twenty years ago, vertebrate palaeontology is more influenced by cladistics. Yet, nearly all invertebrate groups are touched by cladistic concepts: this proves...

From a set of new characters, the phylogeny of placoderms taken as a whole has been investigated using the computer programs PAUP and Mac Clade. The result corroborate the hypothesis of an inclusion of the Phylolepida within the Arthrodira and the basal position of the Acanthothoraci among Placodermata.

The faunas described in this paper have been recovered from three horizons in the upper part of the White Rock Formation, cropping out on both sides of the Bear River estuary, Meguma zone, Nova Scotia. They include: 1) vertebrate micro-remains, identified in thin sections in a level of limy sandstones, intercalated into the silty beds which compose...

L'ichtyofaune d'un site fossilifère du Dévonien inférieur de l'Ardenne belge, Arville (partie inférieure de la Formation de St Hubert) comprend des Hétérostracés (Althaspis leachi, Weigeltaspis sp.), des Ostéostracés indéterminés, des Thélodontes (Turinia pagei, T. polita, Nikolivia sp. 1, N. sp. 2), des Chondrichtyens (Leonodus cf. L. carlsi), des...

Faunas with graptolites, conodonts, chitinozoans, crinoids and vertebrate micro-remains of north European affinities permit to state precisely the Silurian stratigraphy of the Meguma zone, with the identification of biostratigraphical horizons dated from Upper Wenlock to Pridolian age. There is an abridged English version -English summary

A review of the biostratigraphic and paleogeographic distribution of Famennian fish faunas emphasizes the significance of placoderms.-Editors

The marine origin of the paleoenvironment in a Devonian locality of the top of the Wood-Bay Formation, north of Mount Garborg (Ekmanfjord, Spitsbergen), is corroborated by the analysis of Lingula fossilization. This Lingula bed (with flat-laying valves) occurred in the littoral zone through effect of low salinity waters, probably due to strong rain...

The discovery of vertebrate micro-remains, among which Thelodus parvidens, in the Upper Silurian rocks of the Meguma zone, Nova Scotia, leads to a reconsideration of relationships between the Meguma and Avalon zones and the main cratonic blocks of the Proto-Atlantic domain. English summary