Tujiaaspis | 3D Dinopedia

Tujiaaspis

Period of life:

~436 million years ago

Period:

Silurian period

Habitat:

Marine environment

Taxonomy:

Fish

Height:

0.4 m

Countries:

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Silurian period Tujiaaspis | 3D Dinopedia

Tujiaaspis (~436 million years ago)

Name Meaning - the name Tujiaaspis translates as “Shield of the Tujia people.” The genus was named after the Tujia ethnic group of southern China, where the fossils were discovered. Aspis is Greek for “shield.” The species name vividus means “full of life,” referring to the exceptional preservation of the fossils.

Description

More than 400 million years ago, in the seabed waters of ancient Earth, swam a remarkable creature—Tujiaaspis. Though jawless, it possessed a unique feature: primitive paired flaps that may represent the earliest precursors of our own limbs. These fishes lived in the shallow seas of the early Silurian period.

Tujiaaspis was a small but sturdy animal, reaching about 15 cm in length. Its body was flattened and covered with a strong armored shield that protected its head and vital organs.

These animals belonged to the enigmatic group Galeaspida, known primarily from their distinctive head shields. The fossils of Tujiaaspis, discovered in Chongqing and Hunan (China) in 2022, are so well preserved that they provided paleontologists with unique insights into the anatomy and evolution of early fishes.

Lifestyle and Ecology

Tujiaaspis inhabited shallow seas and likely fed on tiny organisms by filtering water and sediments from the seabed. Its heavy, dense head shield offered reliable protection against predators. But its most striking feature was its fins—or rather, paired flaps—that extended along the sides of the body, starting just behind the head shield and running almost to the tail.

This characteristic sets Tujiaaspis apart from other armored jawless fishes. Until its discovery, scientists believed that galeaspids, like modern lampreys, had smooth, finless bodies. However, Tujiaaspis shows that even in the Silurian period, there were fish-like animals with well-developed paired fin systems—a key step in the evolutionary history of fins and limbs in vertebrates.

According to paleontologists, these fins allowed Tujiaaspis to dart upward from the seafloor, helping it evade the dominant predators of the time—eurypterids, or “sea scorpions.”

Scientific Significance

Tujiaaspis appears to have been a true “missing link” in the evolution of paired fins, making it one of the most remarkable animals known from Silurian rocks.

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