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Article
Copulation in antiarch placoderms and the origin of gnathostome internal fertilization
The discovery of claspers in fossils of antiarch placoderms, an ancient group of armoured fish, suggests that internal fertilization was the ancestral type of reproduction for all jawed vertebrates: this contr...
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Article
Open AccessThe largest Silurian vertebrate and its palaeoecological implications
An apparent absence of Silurian fishes more than half-a-metre in length has been viewed as evidence that gnathostomes were restricted in size and diversity prior to the Devonian. Here we describe the largest p...
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Article
Nothosaur foraging tracks from the Middle Triassic of southwestern China
The seas of the Mesozoic (266–66 Myr ago) were remarkable for predatory marine reptiles, but their modes of locomotion have been debated. One problem has been the absence of tracks, although there is no reason...
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Article
A Silurian placoderm with osteichthyan-like marginal jaw bones
The gnathostome (jawed vertebrate) crown group comprises two extant clades with contrasting character complements. Notably, Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) lack the large dermal bones that characterize Ost...