SilesianTriassic

Ptychoceratodus sp. cf madelungi (Ceratodus sp. cf. madelungi)

Middle Triassic, Lower Muschelkalk (anisian), Upper Silesia, Poland

An extremely rare specimen from the Lower Muschelkalk. A dental plate of a lungfish (Dipnoi).

Ptychoeratodus is an extinct genus of lungfish that occurred from the Early Triassic to the Late Cretacerous. The fossil record usualy preserves dental plates (the fish had two pairs of them) and sometimes skull elements.

The specimen is quite heavily eroded (white elements), but retains its characteristic shape (acute, prominent ridges) and surface texture.

To be completely honest, I based my assignment of the material on stratigraphy and the likelihood of P. madelungi occurring in the Lower Anisian. Lack of access to comparative material and good literature allows me to only guess.

Reference:

Skrzycki, Piotr. (2015). New species of lungfish (Sarcopterygii, Dipnoi) from the Late Triassic Krasiejów site in Poland, with remarks on the ontogeny of Triassic dipnoan tooth plates. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35. 10.1080/02724634.2015.964357.