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DIPNORHYNCHUS
(dip-no-rin-kus)
meaning: "Double snout"
Named By: Jaekel in 1927
Time Period: Early to Late Devonian
Location: Australia? and Germany - Hunsrueck Slate Formation
Size: About 90 centimetres long
Diet: Carnivore/Durophagovore
Fossil(s): Few specimens
Classification: | Chordata | Sarcopterygii | Dipnoi | Dipteriformes | Dipnorhynchidae |
About

Dipnorhynchus is an extinct genus of lungfish from the middle Devonian period of Australia and Europe.

Dipnorhynchus was a primitive lungfish, but still it had features that set it apart from other sarcopterygians. Its skull lacked the joint that divided the skull in two in rhipidists and coelacanths. Instead, it was a solid bony structure similar to that of the first tetrapods. Instead of cheek teeth, Dipnorhynchus had tooth-like plates on the palate and lower jaw. Also like land vertebrates, the palate was fused with the brain case. It was relatively large for a lungfish, measuring 90 centimetres (3 ft) in length.

Read more about Dipnorhynchus at Wikipedia
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