Name: Gogo Formation.
Location: The Kimberley, NW Australia.
Age: Upper Devonian, Frasnian. 350 million years.

Faunal Assemblages

Fig.1. 3D skull of the placoderm Mcnamaraspis kaprios. Courtesy of Dr.J.Long.

The placoderm fish Mcnamaraspis was approximately 25 cm long and, like other placoderms, had a bony head shield which was joined to the 'shark'-like body (Fig. 1). Placoderms were the first jawed fish. The Mcnamaraspis skull exhibits annular cartilage preserved in the snout, which has never been observed in other placoderm specimens. This facilitated the entrance of water over its olfactory organs and hence its sense of smell was acute. This, together with the sharp teeth, probably made the fish a highly successful predator (Fig 2).

Fig 2. Reconstruction of the placoderm Mcnamaraspis kaprios. Courtesy of Dr.J.Long

Fig 3.

Fig 4.

Fig 3. Front view of an arthrodire placoderm fish. Note the hard, bony teeth used for grabbing shrimp-like crustaceans. Fig 4. Head plates of the long-snouted placoderm Fallocosteus turnerae. Courtesy of Dr.J.Long.

Fig 5.

Fig 6.

Fig 5. The skull and lower jaw of a Gogo lungfish, Griphognathus whitei. Fig 6. The 3D skull morphology of another Gogo lungfish, Chirodipterus australis.

Fig 7. Reconstruction of the Gogo reef fauna. Courtesy of Dr.J.Long.

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