Named By: | A. M. Clement in 2012 |
Time Period: | Unavailable |
Location: | Australia - Gogo Formation |
Size: | About 12.5 centimetres long |
Diet: | Carnivore/Piscivore |
Fossil(s): | Partially preserved individual |
Classification: | | Chordata | Gnathostomata | Osteichthyes | Sarcopterygii | Dipnoi | |
Rhinodipterus is an extinct genus of prehistoric dipnoan sarcopterygians or lobe-finned fish, that lived in the Devonian Period, between 416 and 359 million years ago. It is believed to have inhabited shallow, salt-water reefs, and is one of the earliest known examples of marine lungfish. Research published in 2010 based on an exceptionally well-preserved specimen from the Gogo Formation of Australia has shown that Rhinodipterus has cranial ribs attached to its braincase and was probably adapted for air-breathing to some degree. This could be the only case known for a marine lungfish with air-breathing adpatations.