Asterolepis alticristata n. sp. (Antiarchi) from the Upper Devonian (Frasnian) of Nunavut, Canada, and a report on the antiarch diversity of the Fram Formation
Author
Downs, Jason P.
Author
Daeschler, Edward B.
Author
Lo, Nathanael
Author
Carey, Emily N.
Author
Shubin, Neil H.
text
Geodiversitas
2019
2019-10-17
41
19
679
698
journal article
10.5252/geodiversitas2019v41a19
92402f3e-075a-440f-87df-a545fd221c0c
1638-9395
3695594
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C34F475B-6315-400C-ACE3-B67B1667C033
Genus
Asterolepis
Eichwald, 1840
sensu
Agassiz (1844)
TYPE
SPECIES
. —
Asterolepis
ornata
Eichwald, 1840 (
Eichwald 1840b
),
sensu
Agassiz (1844)
; East Baltic area, Main Devonian Field, Gauja Formation, Middle Devonian (late Givetian).
REMARKS
Eichwald first proposed the name
Asterolepis
ornata
in a November, 1839, letter to H. G. Bronn of Stuttgart. The letter was published sometime after April of the following year (
Eichwald 1840b
) in the annual journal at which Bronn served as co-editor,
Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Petrekaften-Kunde
. This reference has been mis- cited (e.g.,
Lyarskaja 1981
;
Upeniece 2011
) as a publication of
Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geognosie, Geologie und Paläontologie
, a title change for the journal that only occurred after Bronn’s death in 1862 and then continued through to 1942. In an earlier 1840 publication (published in April),
Eichwald (1840a: 79)
mentions, though misspells, “Astrolepis” but makes no formal proposal of the name and does not use the name of the
type
species,
A. ornata
. His casual use of the name “Astrolepis” here is likely due to his previously written, though not yet published, proposal of
A. ornata
in his letter to Bronn. The quirk of publication schedules means that the earlier
Eichwald (1840a)
publication, in
Bulletin scientifique de l’Académie impériale des Sciences de
Saint Petersbourg
, is the first published occurrence of “Astrolepis,” though not of the
type
species name. This understanding reveals that the original spelling of
Asterolepis
is actually “Astrolepis.” However, considering the subsequent spelling’s prevailing (though not exclusive; see
Murphy
et al.
1976
) usage and its common attribution to the publication containing the original spelling (e.g.,
Traquair 1888
;
Woodward 1891
;
Rohon 1899
;
Gross 1931
,
1933
; Karatajūte-Talimaa 1963;
Lyarskaja 1981
;
Janvier & Villarroel 2000
;
Moloshnikov 2008
;
Newman & Den Blaauwen 2018
), the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (Article 33.3.1) supports
Asterolepis
as a correct spelling.