Ichthyostega

Ichthyostega Temporal range: Late Devonian (Famennian), 365–360 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Reconstructed skeleton in Moscow Paleontological Museum
Skeletal reconstruction
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Sarcopterygii
Clade:	Tetrapodomorpha
Clade:	Stegocephali
Family:	†Ichthyostegidae Säve-Söderbergh, 1932
Genus:	†Ichthyostega Säve-Söderbergh, 1932
Type species
†Ichthyostega stensioei Säve-Söderbergh, 1932
Other species[1][2]
†I. eigili Säve-Söderbergh, 1932 †I. kochi? Säve-Söderbergh, 1932 †I. watsoni Säve-Söderbergh, 1932
Synonyms
Genus synonymy Ichthyostegopsis Säve-Söderbergh, 1932 Species synonymy Ichthyostega stensiöi Säve-Söderbergh, 1932 Ichthyostegopsis wimani Säve-Söderbergh, 1932

Ichthyostega (from Greek: ἰχθῦς ikhthûs, 'fish' and Greek: στέγη stégē, 'roof') is an extinct genus of limbed tetrapodomorphs from the Late Devonian of what is now Greenland. It was among the earliest four-limbed vertebrates ever in the fossil record and was one of the first with weight-bearing adaptations for terrestrial locomotion. Ichthyostega possessed lungs and limbs which helped it navigate through shallow water in swamps. Although Ichthyostega is often labelled a 'tetrapod' because of its limbs and fingers, it evolved long before true crown group tetrapods and could more accurately be referred to as a stegocephalian or stem tetrapod. Likewise, while undoubtedly of amphibian build and habit, it is not a true member of the group in the narrow sense, as the first modern amphibians (members of the group Lissamphibia) appeared in the Triassic Period. Until finds of other early stegocephalians and closely related fishes in the late 20th century, Ichthyostega stood alone as a transitional fossil between fish and tetrapods, combining fish and tetrapod features. Newer research has shown that it had an unusual anatomy, functioning more akin to a seal than a salamander, as previously assumed.^[3]