c. 400 million years ago, Yunnan Province, People's
Republic of China
Over a shallow Devonian seafloor that will one day be part of southern China, a small predatory Psarolepis harasses a school of jawless Polybranchiaspis . Further in the distance swim other kinds of strange fish including the menacing Youngolepis.
All these creatures come from the Xitun Formation of Yunnan, a province that is full of fantastic Paleozoic fossil sites.
FISH
Psarolepis romeri - onychodontiform - lone bigtooth fish in left foreground.
Polybranchiaspis liaojiaoshanensis - galeaspid - the quintet of weird jawless fish. The hole that looks like a mouth in front of the eyes is actually a water intake leading to the internal nostrils and gills. The mouth is on the underside of the body.
Phymolepis cuifengshanensis - antiarch placoderm - pair of armoured fish in middle distance.
Youngolepis praecursor - crossopterygian - huge blue guy. Currently described on the basis of much smaller specimens, the size of the fish in the painting is based on newly discovered material that suggest it got to about a metre in length.
Nostolepis sp. - acanthodian - pair of little blue guys
Except for Youngolepis (~1m long) everyone else is pretty small (less than 13cm long)
SEASHELLS
Lingula sp. - things poking out of the sand in the foreground - these are brachiopods ("lampshells") that are still living today.
SEAWEED
Uncatoella verticillata - branching algae – the world’s oldest charophyte – ooh scary!
This image was created for the "The Big Picture Book" (Allen & Unwin, 2005)
Back to main page
Art and text © Brian Choo 2004
Over a shallow Devonian seafloor that will one day be part of southern China, a small predatory Psarolepis harasses a school of jawless Polybranchiaspis . Further in the distance swim other kinds of strange fish including the menacing Youngolepis.
All these creatures come from the Xitun Formation of Yunnan, a province that is full of fantastic Paleozoic fossil sites.
FISH
Psarolepis romeri - onychodontiform - lone bigtooth fish in left foreground.
Polybranchiaspis liaojiaoshanensis - galeaspid - the quintet of weird jawless fish. The hole that looks like a mouth in front of the eyes is actually a water intake leading to the internal nostrils and gills. The mouth is on the underside of the body.
Phymolepis cuifengshanensis - antiarch placoderm - pair of armoured fish in middle distance.
Youngolepis praecursor - crossopterygian - huge blue guy. Currently described on the basis of much smaller specimens, the size of the fish in the painting is based on newly discovered material that suggest it got to about a metre in length.
Nostolepis sp. - acanthodian - pair of little blue guys
Except for Youngolepis (~1m long) everyone else is pretty small (less than 13cm long)
SEASHELLS
Lingula sp. - things poking out of the sand in the foreground - these are brachiopods ("lampshells") that are still living today.
SEAWEED
Uncatoella verticillata - branching algae – the world’s oldest charophyte – ooh scary!
This image was created for the "The Big Picture Book" (Allen & Unwin, 2005)
Back to main pageArt and text © Brian Choo 2004