The Frasnian (Upper Devonian) antiarch Walterilepis speciosa was first described in 1933 (as Taeniolepis) on the basis of a single specimen. The newly collected material has allowed the head to be described in a more detail, especially the nuchal and paranuchal plates. Other newly described elements include bones of the pectoral appendages and trunk armour, demonstrating a rather high and short trunk armour. The shape and proportions of the head and trunk armour suggest the attribution of Walterilepis to the family Pterichthyodidae; it is most probably closely related to Lepadolepis from the Late Frasnian of Germany. Whilst W. speciosa is endemic to the Latvian part of the Baltic Devonian Basin, the connection to the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge is probably closer than previously presumed. Walterilepis fits into the biostratigraphical column at the same level as Bothriolepis maxima and B. evaldi, indicating the high diversity of antiarchs during Pamūšis time.
Clément, G. & Lebedev, O. 2014. Revision of the early tetrapod Obruchevichthys Vorobyeva, 1977 from the Frasnian (Upper Devonian) of the north western East European Platform. Paleontological Journal, 48, 1082–1091.
https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030114100037
Denison, R. H. 1978. Placodermi. In Handbook of Paleoichthyology, Part 2 (Schultze, H.-P., ed.), pp. 1–128. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart and New York.
Esin, D., Ginter, M., Ivanov, A., Lebedev, O., Luksevics, E., Avkhimovich, V., Golubtsov, V. & Petukhova, L. 2000. Vertebrate correlation of the Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous on the East European Platform. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 223, 341–359.
Feist, R. & Schindler, E. 1994. Trilobites during the Frasnian Kellwasser Crisis in European Late Devonian cephalopod limestone. In Willi Ziegler Festschrift II(Konigshof, P. & Werner, R., eds), Courier Foschungsinstitut Schenkenberg, 169, 195–223.
Friman, L. 1982. Ein mitteldevonischer Antiarche, Gerdalepis jesseni n. sp., aus der Sötenicher Mulde, Nord-Eifel (Rheinisches Schiefergebirge). Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 56, 229–234.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02988800
Glinskiy, V. 2018. Phylogenetic relationships of psammosteid heterostracans (Pteraspidiformes), Devonian jawless vertebrates. Biological Communications, 62, 219–243.
https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu03.2017.402
Gross, W. 1932. Antiarchi. Fossilium Catalogus, Pars 57, 1–40.
Gross, W. 1933a. Die Fische des Baltischen Devons. Palaeontographica, 79, 1–74.
Gross, W. 1933b. Die Wirbeltiere des rheinischen Devons. Abhandlungen der Preussischen Geologischen Landesanstalt, Neue Folge, 154, 5–83.
Gross, W. 1941. Neue Beobachtungen an Gerdalepis rhenana (Beyrich). Palaeontographica, 93A, 193–214.
Gross, W. 1942. Die Fischfaunen des baltischen Devons und ihre biostratigraphische Bedeutung. Korrespondenz-blatt des naturforscher-Vereins zu Riga, 64, 373–436.
Gross, W. 1965. Über die Placodermen-gattungen Asterolepis und Tiaraspis aus dem Devon Belgiens und einen fraglichen Tiaraspis-rest aus dem Devon Spitsbergens. Bulletin Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, 41(16), 1–19.
Hemmings, S. K. 1978. The Old Red Sandstone antiarchs of Scotland: Pterichthyodes and Microbrachius. Palaeontographical Society (Monographs), 131, 1–64.
Janvier, P. & Pan, J. 1982. Hyrcanaspis bliecki n.g., n.sp., a new primitive euantiarch (Antiarcha, Placodermi) from the Eifelian of Northeastern Iran, with a discussion on antiarch phylogeny. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen, 164, 364–392.
https://doi.org/10.1127/njgpa/164/1982/364
Karatajūtė-Talimaa, V. 1960. Byssacanthus dilatatus (Eichw.) from the Middle Devonian of the U.S.S.R. In Collectania Acta Geologica Lithuanica (Gudelis, V., ed.), pp. 293–305. Geological and Geographical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Lithuanian SSR, Vilnius.
Karatajūtė-Talimaa, V. 1963. Genus Asterolepis from the Devonian of the Russian Platform. In The Data of Geology of the Lithuania (Grigelis, A. & Karatajūtė-Talimaa, V., eds), pp. 65–169. Vilnius [in Russian, with Lithuanian and English summaries].
Long, J. A. 1983. New bothriolepid fish from the Late Devonian of Victoria, Australia. Palaeontology, 26, 295–320.
Lukševičs, E. 2001. Bothriolepid antiarchs (Vertebrata, Placodermi) from the Devonian of the north-western part of the East European Platform. Geodiversitas, 23, 489–609.
Lukševičs, E. & Stinkulis, Ģ. 2018. Pirmskvartāra nogulumieži un platformsegas uzbūve [Pre-Quaternary deposits and structure of the platform cover]. In Latvija. Zeme, daba, tauta, valsts [Latvia. Land, Nature, People, Country] (Nikodemus, O., Kļaviņš, M., Krišjāne, Z. & Zelčs, V., eds), pp. 38–58. Latvijas Universitātes Akadēmiskais apgāds, Riga [in Latvian].
Lukševičs, E., Ahlberg, P. E., Stinkulis, Ģ., Vasiļkova, J. & Zupiņš, I. 2011. Frasnian vertebrate taphonomy and sedimentology of macrofossil concentrations from the Langsēde Cliff, Latvia. Lethaia, 45, 356–370.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1502-3931.2011.00288.x
Lukševičs, E., Mūrnieks, A., Stinkulis, Ģ. & Popovs, K. 2012. Geological evolution of the Baltic Artesian Basin. In Highlights of Groundwater Research in the Baltic Artesian Basin (Dēliņa, A., Kalvāns, A., Saks, T., Bethers, U. & Vircavs, V., eds), pp. 7–52. University of Latvia, Riga.
Lyarskaya, L. 1981. Baltic Devonian Placodermi. Asterolepididae. Zinātne, Riga, 152 pp. [in Russian, with English summary].
Lyarskaya, L. 1986. New species of Bothriolepis (Antiarchi) from the Baltic Upper Devonian. In Biofatsii i fauna silurijskogo i devonskikh bassejnov Pribaltiki[Biofacies and Fauna of the East Baltic Silurian and Devonian Basins] (Brangulis, A., ed.), pp. 123–130. Zinātne, Riga [in Russian].
Malinovskaya, S. 1973. New Middle Devonian genus Stegolepis (Antiarchi, Placodermi) from the Central Kazakhstan. Paleontologicheskiy Zhurnal, 2, 71–82 [in Russian].
Miles, R. 1968. The Old Red Sandstone antiarchs of Scotland: Family Bothriolepididae. Palaeontographical Society Monographs, 130, 1–130.
Moloshnikov, S. V. 2001. A new replacement name for the antiarch Taeniolepis Gross, 1932 (Pisces, Placodermi). Zoosystematica Rossica, 10, 214.
Moloshnikov, S. V. 2008. Devonian antiarchs (Pisces, Antiarchi) from Central and Southern European Russia. Paleontological Journal, 42, 691–773.
https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030108070010
Obruchev, D. V. 1964. The class Placodermi. In Osnovy Paleontologii, Beschelyustnye i ryby [Fundamentals of Paleontology, Agnathans and Fishes] (Orlov, Yu. A., ed.), pp. 118–174. Nauka, Moscow [in Russian].
Panteleyev, N. V. 1993. New antiarchs (Placodermi) from Middle Devonian sediments of Central Kazakhstan. Paleontologicheskiy Zhurnal, 2, 62–71 [in Russian, with English summary].
Sorokin, V. 1978. Etapy razvitiya severo-zapada Russkoj platformy vo franskom veke [Stages of the Development of the North-Western Part of the Russian Platform During the Frasnian]. Zinātne, Riga, 282 pp. [in Russian].
Sorokin, V. 1981a. Franskij yarus [Frasnian Stage]. In Devon i karbon Pribaltiki [Devonian and Carboniferous of the East Baltic] (Sorokin, V., ed.), pp. 142–143. Zinātne, Riga [in Russian].
Sorokin, V. 1981b. Ogrskaya svita [Ogre Formation]. In Devon i karbon Pribaltiki [Devonian and Carboniferous of the East Baltic] (Sorokin, V., ed.), pp. 275–281. Zinātne, Riga [in Russian].
Stensiö, E. A. 1931. Upper Devonian vertebrates from East Greenland. Meddelelser om Grønland, 86, 1–212.
Stensiö, E. A. 1938. Placodermi. In Middle Devonian Vertebrates from Canning Land and Wegener Peninsula (East Greenland) (Stensiö, E. A. & Säve-Söderbergh, G., eds), Meddelelser om Grønland, 96, 1–38.
Stensiö, E. A. 1948. On the Placodermi of the Upper Devonian of East Greenland. II. Antiarchi: subfamily Bothriolepinae. Meddelelser om Grønland, 139, 1–622.
Stinkule, A. & Stinkulis, Ģ. 2013. Latvijas derīgie izrakteņi [Mineral Resources of Latvia]. Latvijas Universitātes Akadēmiskais apgāds, Rīga, 168 pp. [in Latvian].
Stinkulis, Ģ. 2004. Latvijas nogulumiežu segas stratigrāfiskā shēma [Stratigraphic chart of the sedimentary cover of Latvia]. Latvijas Ģeoloģijas vēstis, 11, 14–17 [in Latvian].
Stinkulis, Ģ., Lukševičs, E. & Reķe, T. 2020. Sedimentology and vertebrate fossils of the Frasnian Ogre Formation, Gurova outcrops, eastern Latvia. Estonian Journal of Earth Sciences, 69, 248–261.
https://doi.org/10.3176/earth.2020.18
Trautschold, H. 1874. Fischreste aus dem Devonischen des Gouvernements Tula. Nouvélle Memoires de la Societé Impériale Naturalistes de Moscou, 13, 263–275.
Wang, J. 1991. New material of Hunanolepis from the Middle Devonian of Hunan. In Early Vertebrates and Related Problems of Evolutionary Biology (Chang, M. M., Liu, Y. H. & Zhang, G. R., eds), pp. 213–247. Science Press, Beijing.
Young, G. C. 1983. A new antiarchan fish (Placodermi) from the late Devonian of southeastern Australia. BMR Journal of Australian Geology and Geophysics, 8, 71–81.
Young, G. C. 1990. New antiarchs (Devonian placoderm fishes) from Queensland, with comments on placoderm phylogeny and biogeography. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 28, 35–50.
Young, G. C. 1993. Vertebrate faunal provinces in the Middle Palaeozoic. In Palaeozoic Vertebrate Biostratigraphy and Biogeography (Long, J. A., ed.), pp. 293–323. Belhaven Press, London.
Young, G. C. & Gorter, J. D. 1981. A new fish fauna of Middle Devonian age from the Taemas Wee Jasper region of New South Wales. BMR Bulletin, 209, 83–147.
Zhu, M. 1996. The phylogeny of the Antiarcha (Placodermi, Pisces), with the description of Early Devonian antiarchs from Qujing, Yunnan, China. Bulletin du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 4e sér., 18, Section C, 2–3, 233–347.
