#placoderm
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savanna-van-mesdag.bsky.social
I recently discovered that @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social , in their recent 2026 Cleveland Annual Meeting programme, incorporated images of placoderm fish made using generative AI. Placoderm fish so not, in fact, have ribs, vertebral centra or jaws that look like that. Ridiculous. 1/2
An AI image of a placoderm fish showing various anatomical and physiological features that did not exist in placoderm fish in real life, labelled in further images in this post. An AI image of a placoderm fish showing various anatomical and physiological features that did not exist in placoderm fish in real life. Here, I have labelled the ribs, which did not exist in placoderm fish. An AI image of a placoderm fish showing various anatomical and physiological features that did not exist in placoderm fish in real life. Here, I have labelled the ribs and vertebral centra, which did not exist in placoderm fish. An additional image from the SVP 2026 Annual Meeting programme made using generative AI, showing an incorrect jaw.
November 2, 2026 at 5:28 PM
savanna-van-mesdag.bsky.social
I am thoroughly disappointed by this. It is ironic, given that 1) Cleveland Museum is known for its history of high-quality, influential placoderm fish research and 2) SVP are the very organisation who published my paper on placoderm vertebrae back in 2020.
A screenshot showing the journal article: van Mesdag et al., 2020, Hyperossification in the vertebral column of Devonian placoderm fishes (Arthrodira), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
November 2, 2026 at 5:31 PM
laimosemion.bsky.social
Someone used AI to depict a fossil Placoderm skeleton, with predictably stupid results.
November 3, 2026 at 3:56 PM
zzthekaiju.bsky.social
Sincerely hoping that if we ever invent time machines, this placoderm didn't look like THAT.
October 31, 2026 at 5:15 AM
crvscience-news.bsky.social
CRV Science Wiki
🧬 Gnathostomata — Crown-group Vertebrata splits into jawless Cyclostomata (lampreys and hagfishes) and jawed Gnathostomata, illuminated by Paleozoic armored ostracoderm and placoderm fossils and by a Dlx dorsoventral homeobox code that r…

https://crvscience.com/wiki/gnathostomata
CRV Science Wiki 🧬 Gnathostomata — Crown-group Vertebrata splits into jawless Cyclostomata (lampreys and hagfishes) and jawed Gnathostomata, illuminated by Paleozoic armored ostracoderm and placoderm fossils and by a Dlx dorsoventral homeobox code that remodeled the first pharyngeal gill arch int…
crvscience.com
November 5, 2026 at 5:22 AM
xrciseguy.bsky.social
#FossilFriday: Pterichthyodes, a placoderm fish from the Old Red Sandstone (Devonian) of Scotland. On display at the National Museum of Scotland.
October 23, 2026 at 8:09 PM
daverodland.bsky.social
This is the only collection I've never found Astraspis in, but we all know how I am about Astraspis. Moving along to gnathostomes, we've got a nice replica Bothriolepis - a bottom-feeding durophagous placoderm.
Bothriolepis canadensis
October 17, 2026 at 7:23 PM
darrylayo.bsky.social
placoderm
October 15, 2026 at 1:27 AM
kronogenprod.bsky.social
Aston the Alligator on the big neon dunkleosteus. Squishy feesh.

For @draakvuur.bsky.social

#alligator #reptile #inflatable #dunkleosteus #devonian #prehistoric #fish #furryart
A drawing of an anthropomorphic alligator wearing water wings and a swimring laying on a plump neon-colored inflatable dunkleosteus (placoderm) in front of an abstract background. Text - "Aston Alligator".
October 12, 2026 at 12:26 PM
kronogenprod.bsky.social
Spicy commissions for @tombfyre.blimps.xyz.ap.brid.gy and @lancederg.bsky.social

You have a hose and a dragon, what did *you* think the kobolds would do?

Tide enjoys a really big placoderm.

#inflatable #inflation #dragon #dragnwash #kobold #macro #shark #dunkleosteus #hyper #furryart #nsfw
A pencil sketch of a fat dragon with an impressive nutsack in a hangar, being cleaned by kobolds. The dragon is looking back over his shoulder, wondering what's going on back there. One kobold is pointing excitedly at the dragon's anus and gesturing to to very happy kobolds with a large hose... A pencil sketch of a hyperendowed muscular shark/manta hybrid enjoying himself on the back of an inflatable dunkleosteus in a warehouse or hangar. Both are expanding. Dialogue: "More."
October 9, 2026 at 5:20 PM
poupon.bsky.social
Ok so the account disabled quote reposts which is... A decision they have the right to make... But this is the media that scared me when I was a kid

Mostly because I remember Jessie having a low key panic attack and that's the most realistic response to fear I've seen in a kid show
Bipedal placoderm-like creatures scurry for a hole in glorious 90s cell animation style, from the real adventures of johnny quest
October 5, 2026 at 9:00 PM
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Teaching on the main campus so no collections work today. So here's Bothriolepis canadensis (UMMP VP 3475) from this week's lab for the vertebrate paleontology course.
Bony armor of a placoderm fish with tiny eyes. The fossil is dark in color and shaped like an egg.
October 1, 2026 at 8:54 PM
docleslie.bsky.social
Love me a placoderm.
September 27, 2026 at 10:03 PM
paleogee26.bsky.social
#FossilFriday A new quasipetalichthyid placoderm from the Middle Devonian of China - Pan - 2026 - Papers in Palaeontology - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
A new quasipetalichthyid placoderm from the Middle Devonian of China
We describe Yipetalichthys maxiongensis gen. et sp. nov., a quasipetalichthyid placoderm from the Eifelian Shangshuanghe Formation (Qujing, Yunnan, China). High-resolution micro-CT reveals an endocra...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 26, 2026 at 6:29 AM
thepalass.bsky.social
A new quasipetalichthyid placoderm from the Middle Devonian of China onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersinPalaeontology #FossilFriday @morphobank.bsky.social
Upper left: photograph of fossil specimen IVPP V26687, the placoderm Yipetalichthys maxiongensis, a natural mould of the dorsal part of the endocranium, preserving only a portion of the preorbital plate. Scale bar at lower right of photograph is 10 mm. Lower right, interpretive line drawing. Red rectangle in lower left corner is a cover image from the journal Papers in Palaeontology.
September 25, 2026 at 5:38 PM
friedmanlab.bsky.social
ANSP 22341, an unassuming slab from the Famennian Catskill Formation with portions of a few articulated lobe-finned fishes (Holoptychius) and a placoderm (Bothriolepis). Special to me as the first fossil I found to end up in a museum, collected during the first summer of my PhD. #FossilFriday
Red siltstone block containing blue-to-brown fish remains, including areas of articulated scales, fins, and skull bones. A collection label is on top of the specimen.
September 25, 2026 at 10:55 PM
wreybies.bsky.social
Dunkleosteus has changed a lot over the years. This photo of my Schliech® model has the older, outdated exposed armor look. We only have the head and body armor, so they've been subject to much speculation.

But, they've had 370 million years in my setting... 🧵

#SeptemberWorldbuilders #WriteSky
A photo of my Dunkleosteus toy showing the now-out-date "exposed armor" appearance, which is basically the shrink-wrap phenomenon applied to a fish. Reconstructed skull and trunk armor of a Dunkleosteus placoderm fish
September 17, 2026 at 12:23 PM
wreybies.bsky.social
And evolution is an ever-present phenomenon. Along with the other Devonian placoderms that would be present in the oceans, I imagine them radiating into niches specific to the Enclosure environment. Elderfolk avoid the sea because of them.

(A modern rendering of dunkleosteus by Archaeoraptor)
A rendering of a dunkleosteus with the more modern, "fully skinned" appearance and without the "hunch-back" shape taken from the body-plan of Coccosteus, a related placoderm that was only about a foot long and lived in shallow water environments. Dunkleosteus, by contrast, was a massive ocean-going predator.
September 17, 2026 at 12:23 PM
ngerlach.bsky.social
Our teaching collection is focused on extant stuff (understandably, since we're bio, not geo), but we've got a placoderm, casts of a small pterosaur and Archaeopteryx, Smilodon and velociraptor skulls, and for some inexplicable reason, a good assortment of Mesozoic marine reptile plastic toys.
September 16, 2026 at 2:49 PM
draliceclement.bsky.social
Media for our recent #Gogo #placoderm #FEA paper

www.yourweather.co.uk/news/science...
Ancient fish packed jaws like medieval weapons
Ancient fish packed jaws like medieval weapons, showing a diversity of jaw types needed for hard-object feeding in ancient reefs
www.yourweather.co.uk
September 14, 2026 at 6:56 AM
purescience.news
Devonian Armored Fish Show Multiple Ways to Crush Hard-Shelled Prey #Science

https://www.sci.news/paleontology/devonian-placoderm-jaws-15062.html
Devonian Armored Fish Show Multiple Ways to Crush Hard-Shelled Prey | Sci.News
Long before sharks or reptiles ruled the seas, armor-plated fish called placoderms were already experimenting with different jaw designs to crush hard-shelled prey.
www.sci.news
September 14, 2026 at 5:34 PM
palaeonavix.bsky.social
One of the latest studies reconstructing Dunkleosteus explicitly left out the lip question. But this isso very likely.

#fossilfish #dunkleosteus #Devonian #Paleozoico #placoderm #arthrodira #armoredfish #underthesea #artandscience
One of the latest studies reconstructing Dunkleosteus explicitly left out the lip question. But this isso very likely.
September 13, 2026 at 5:56 PM
wreybies.bsky.social
😅 My approach to Enclosure:

Why is the fauna Miocene, but the hominins are Pleistocene or later?

➡️ Entire Publishable Scientific Essay for an answer.

Why are there still Devonian placoderm fish?

➡️ They are bad-ass to describe and scary to encounter! 😅
September 11, 2026 at 7:02 PM
wreybies.bsky.social
Healthy fear. 😨 Though dunkleosteus is an anomalous titan of a placoderm and restricted to the ocean, other species inhabiting deep freshwater rivers and lakes (particularly "the Lake") to the west are more than able to do the job when eternity can no longer be born. 😞

Artwork by Robert Fabiani
Digital rendering of two dunkeosteus in clear, open ocean with smaller fish accompanying them, all near the surface.
September 10, 2026 at 3:43 PM
bellack.com
As an old paleontology nerd, when I read “Devonian farmers,” I got confused and visualized a gigantic Placoderm using a rake on the seabed like some prehistoric SpongeBob spinoff.
September 3, 2026 at 8:27 PM