Starlux Plesiosaurus and Tylosaurus
Plesiosaurus • Tylosaurus
Starlux Tanystropheus
Two renditions of Tanystropheus, one in poor health
Starlux Mastodonsaurus and Labyrinthodont
Mastodonsaurus • Labyrinthodont
Starlux Protosuchus and Nothosaurus
Protosuchus • Nothosaurus
Starlux Platochelys and Archelon
Platochelys • Archelon
Starlux Cephalaspis and Drepanaspis
Cephalaspis • Drepanaspis
These strange little jawless fish are ostracoderms ("shell skin"), a type which first appears in the Ordovician. Internal skeletons seem to have been cartilaginous and have not been well preserved. However, the bony dermal armor and scales have proven more durable, and have in fact allowed much of the internal anatomy of these fish to be explored. Besides jaws, most paired fins one would expect to see on fish are lacking, as is the full complement of semicircular canals. We higher vertebrates have three semicircular canals, all perfectly orthogonal to each other - this is what allows us to orient in three dimensions. How these little buggers got along with fewer is a problem in control theory which, so far as I know, has yet to be examined by ichtyologists or paleontologists. Personally, I know more control theory than ichthyology - just ask!
Cephalaspis
Drepanaspis, also from the lower Devonian, was just over a foot (35 cm) long. I know of perhaps half a dozen fairly well-preserved specimens, at least good enough to show his overall shape, and the Starlux figure seems pretty close. My tentative hypothesis is that the figure was modeled after this painting, although the obvious fact that the upper lobe of the caudal fin doesn't look much the same is a weak point -
The above fragment appears in various places on the Web, always undated and uncredited. It is the work of the late Zdenek Burian. Just where and when the painting was originally published is a matter of continuing investigation. We see Drepanaspis, Psammolepis just above, several Pteraspis, and at right an early lobe-fin fish, Osteolepis. An obvious problem here is that Osteolepis was a more advanced fish, with proper jaws, and he didn't appear until the mid-Devonian. Also, he was only about 8 inches long, the same size as Pteraspis, so he's shown a bit oversized in the painting. As for that stuff at lower right, well, I don't do plants.
This is probably my favorite Starlux figure. These ridiculous little Devonian fish seem to appeal to my overdeveloped sense of the absurd. So here are some more views, in orthogonal third angle projection -
And a bottom view. As usual with Starlux figures, the bottom has little useful detail. Most of it is a generic crosshatch pattern.
Starlux Ichthyostega and Ichthyosaurus
Ichthyostega • Ichthyosaurus
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