Description of new species of Osteostraci from the Man On The Hill locality, Northwest Territories, Canada, with consideration of the phylogenetic and biogeographic significance of the new taxa
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Abstract
The Lochkovian (Lower Devonian) Man on the Hill (MOTH ) locality, Northwest Territories, Canada, is a Konservat-Lagerstätte, where articulated early vertebrate remains are found. Among the early vertebrates preserved at the MOTH locality are the Osteostraci. Many specimens of osteostracan have been recovered since the last descriptions of osteostracan material from MOTH. New species of osteostracan are described here, including five new genera. The new taxa are examined in a phylogenetic analysis that includes most of the genera of the Osteostraci. The topology recovered was then used to reconstruct the ancestral biogeographic distributions of osteostracans. Of particular interest among the new taxa is a new family that includes Superciliaspis, and a primitive non-cornuate osteostracan. The new osteostracans support dispersal from Spitsbergen, Norway into MOTH with a specimen of Machairaspis, and the presence of Waengsjoeaspis at both localities, but all of the species, including six genera, are endemic to MOTH.