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Zemes un vides zinātnes Earth and Environment Sciences - Latvijas ...

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60 ADVANCES IN PALAEOICHTHYOLOGY<br />

Fig. 1. Lophosteus superbus; upper Pridoli, Upper Silurian.<br />

A, spine GIT 382-118, borehole Ruhnu-500, 152.2 m depth, Estonia; B, C, middorsal plate GIT<br />

283-25, Ohesaare cliff, Saaremaa, Estonia. b, inner side; c, detail of external side with preserved<br />

tubercles. Dusted with NH 4<br />

Cl. Scale bars equal 1 mm.<br />

One nearly complete spine (GIT 382-118, Fig. 1A) has been discovered in bore<br />

hole Ruhnu-500, Estonia, at 152.2 m depth. Its maximum length is 40 mm. It is flat.<br />

The anterior crest carries large elongate ridge-like tubercles on the lower half <strong>and</strong> much<br />

smaller tubercles (a third to a half in length) in the dorsal half of the anterior crest; there<br />

is an abrupt change in size. The elongate tubercles on the lateral sides are much smaller<br />

(one fourth the large tubercles) <strong>and</strong> are arranged in parallel rows. The base of the spine<br />

is remarkably long, reaching about half the length of the spine, so that one has to assume<br />

that the spine was attached at a low level to the body. Fragmentary material of such<br />

completely flat spines are fo<strong>un</strong>d in acetic residues; these flat spines have a similar<br />

sculpture on both sides (see also Gross 1969: fig. 5 E).<br />

We assume that specimens of L. superbus carry several spines <strong>and</strong> spine-like elements<br />

of very variable size, shape <strong>and</strong> sculpture, based on the occurrence of differently shaped<br />

spines with the same ornamentation. Altogether eight different types of spines <strong>and</strong> spinelike<br />

elements have been fo<strong>un</strong>d (see also Rohon 1893: pl. 1, figs 38-39a; Gross 1969:<br />

figs 4 A, D, 5 B, D, E; Gross 1971a: fig 3 A, C; Otto 1991: fig. 1). Rohon (1893: pl. 1,<br />

figs 38-39 a) figured two spines of Lophosteus superbus, both are 7.1 mm deep <strong>and</strong>

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