What is the Antiarchi?
Q: What is the Antiarchi?
A: The Antiarchi is an order of heavily armored placoderms.
Q: How successful were the antiarchs in comparison to other placoderms?
A: The antiarchs were the second-most successful group of placoderms (after the arthrodires) in terms of numbers of species and range of environments.
Q: What is the armor like on the antiarchs?
A: The front part of their bodies were heavily armored.
Q: How were the rear parts of the antiarchs' bodies?
A: The rear parts were sometimes scaled, sometimes naked.
Q: What was different about the pectoral fins of the antiarchs?
A: The pectoral fins were modified.
Q: What were the limbs like on primitive antiarchs?
A: In primitive forms, such as Yunnanolepis, the limbs were thick and short.
Q: What were the limbs like on advanced antiarchs?
A: In advanced forms, such as Bothriolepis, the limbs were long and had elbow-like joints. Probably they helped the fish pull themselves across the substrate, or allow their owners to bury themselves into the substrate.
