Bony Ostracoderm

Photo National Geographic

Towards the end of Devonian period the seas and fresh water areas were swarming with all kind of fish and other living things. The Gogo catch includes over fifty different species of fish.

Careful study of Devonian rock sediments suggests that although there were so many fish at Late Devonian there were only quite few species in Early Devonian with some background in Silurian period. During Devonian these animals began to do what God told them.

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”
And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
Genesis 1:20-23

Paleontologists suggest that the paucity of Silurian and Early Devonian fish fossils is at least partly explained by the fact that early fish did not have bones but their body was supported by cartilage. This perishes more easily than bone that contains calcium.

We hope and pray that our Heavenly Father has hidden somewhere yet another divine Nature Reserve where exceptional conditions have preserved and protected Silurian and Early Devonian fish!


Ostracoderm

Ostracoderm
Image: e-education.net

From the turn of Silurian and Devonian there have been discoveries of fish that have bony protetction.  Adam has given them a generic name ostracoderm (Gr. shell skin).  These early fish do not have jaw bone. This is the oldest known fish type so far found in the oceans and dates to Early Devonian. As far as I know no fossil has been found so that would link these animals to earlier life forms in Silurian seas.

Ostracoderm fossil
Image: Haysvilles community library