A new dipnoan genus from the Middle Devonian of Huize, Yunnan, China

A new genus and species of tooth-plated lungfishes, Dianodipterus huizeensis gen. et sp. nov., is described from the Qujing Formation (late Eifelian, Middle Devonian) of Huize County, Qujing, north-eastern Yunnan, China. It differs from other lungfishes in the small proportion of the tooth-bearing part on the pterygoid (less than one-quarter), the extensively developed anteromedial edentulous portion of the pterygoid, and tooth rows few in number (only four). Phylogenetic analysis reveals that Dianodipterus is more plesiomorphic than Dipterus, yet crownward of Melanognathus. As the ninth Devonian lungfish genus from China, the new taxon displays a novel schema of lungfish dentition and increases the diversity of early lungfishes.

Automated summary

A new genus and species of tooth-plated lungfishes, Dianodipterus huizeensis gen. et sp. nov., has been discovered in the late Eifelian of the Middle Devonian in Huize County, Qujing, northeastern Yunnan, China. This lungfish differs from others in its small tooth-bearing proportion, extensively developed edentulous portion, and few tooth rows. Phylogenetic analysis places Dianodipterus as more primitive than Dipterus but more advanced than Melanognathus, showing a novel schema of lungfish dentition and contributing to the diversity of early lungfishes in China.