Batwing-Headed Jawless Fish Glided Devonian Seas, Study Finds

Paleontologists in China describe Bataspis crux, a new galeaspid (armored jawless fish) from Early Devonian rocks in Yunnan, whose batwing-shaped headshield, analyzed with 3D flow models, produced the highest lift-to-drag ratio yet seen in galeaspids and suggests it could glide through Devonian seas, expanding our understanding of how jawless stem-gnathostomes moved and how vertebrates began to diversify.