The
Pituriaspida ("
PituriDuboisia is a genus of small perennial shrubs to trees about 14 m tall, with extremely light wood and a thick corky bark. There are four species; all occur in Australia, and one also occurs in New Caledonia....
Shield") are a small group of armored jawless fishes with tremendous nose-like
rostrumRostrum may refer to:* Any platform or stage for public speaking* Australian Rostrum, an association of Australian public speaking clubs* Rostrum , an anatomical structure resembling a bird's beak* Rostrum , a form of bow on naval ships...
s, which lived in the marine, deltaic environments of Middle Devonian Australia (about 390 Ma). They are known only by two species,
Pituriaspis doyleiPituriaspis doylei was one of two known species of jawless fish belonging to the Class Pituriaspida, and is the better known of the two. The species lived in estuaries during the Middle Devonian, in what is now the Georgina Basin of Western Queensland, Australia.The first specimens of P...
and
Neeyambaspis enigmaticaNeeyambaspis enigmatica is the lesser known of the two species of pituriaspid agnathans. The species lived in estuaries during the Middle Devonian, in what is now the Georgina Basin of Western Queensland, Australia....
found in a single sandstone location of the
Georgina BasinThe Georgina Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in central and northern Australia, lying mostly within the Northern Territory and partly within Queensland. It is named after the Georgina River which drains part of the basin. Deposition of locally up to ca...
, in Western
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
.
"Pituriaspida" is often mistranslated as "hallucigenic shield." "Pituri" is actually a specific kind of hallucigenic drug, made from the leaves of the
Corkwood TreeDuboisia is a genus of small perennial shrubs to trees about 14 m tall, with extremely light wood and a thick corky bark. There are four species; all occur in Australia, and one also occurs in New Caledonia....
and
AcaciaAcacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1773. The plants tend to be thorny and pod-bearing, with sap and leaves typically bearing large amounts of tannins...
ash, used by local
AborigineIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's...
shamans for vision quests.
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The
Pituriaspida ("
PituriDuboisia is a genus of small perennial shrubs to trees about 14 m tall, with extremely light wood and a thick corky bark. There are four species; all occur in Australia, and one also occurs in New Caledonia....
Shield") are a small group of armored jawless fishes with tremendous nose-like
rostrumRostrum may refer to:* Any platform or stage for public speaking* Australian Rostrum, an association of Australian public speaking clubs* Rostrum , an anatomical structure resembling a bird's beak* Rostrum , a form of bow on naval ships...
s, which lived in the marine, deltaic environments of Middle Devonian Australia (about 390 Ma). They are known only by two species,
Pituriaspis doyleiPituriaspis doylei was one of two known species of jawless fish belonging to the Class Pituriaspida, and is the better known of the two. The species lived in estuaries during the Middle Devonian, in what is now the Georgina Basin of Western Queensland, Australia.The first specimens of P...
and
Neeyambaspis enigmaticaNeeyambaspis enigmatica is the lesser known of the two species of pituriaspid agnathans. The species lived in estuaries during the Middle Devonian, in what is now the Georgina Basin of Western Queensland, Australia....
found in a single sandstone location of the
Georgina BasinThe Georgina Basin is a large intracratonic sedimentary basin in central and northern Australia, lying mostly within the Northern Territory and partly within Queensland. It is named after the Georgina River which drains part of the basin. Deposition of locally up to ca...
, in Western
QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
.
"Pituriaspida" is often mistranslated as "hallucigenic shield." "Pituri" is actually a specific kind of hallucigenic drug, made from the leaves of the
Corkwood TreeDuboisia is a genus of small perennial shrubs to trees about 14 m tall, with extremely light wood and a thick corky bark. There are four species; all occur in Australia, and one also occurs in New Caledonia....
and
AcaciaAcacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus in 1773. The plants tend to be thorny and pod-bearing, with sap and leaves typically bearing large amounts of tannins...
ash, used by local
AborigineIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's...
shamans for vision quests. The pituriaspids' discoverer, Dr Gavin Young, named
Pituriaspis after the drug, because, upon examining the first specimens, he suspected he was hallucinating (Long, p 59). The better studied species -
Pituriaspis doyleiPituriaspis doylei was one of two known species of jawless fish belonging to the Class Pituriaspida, and is the better known of the two. The species lived in estuaries during the Middle Devonian, in what is now the Georgina Basin of Western Queensland, Australia.The first specimens of P...
, which had a superficial resemblance to the
OsteostraciThe class Osteostraci was a group of bony-armored jawless fish, termed "ostracoderms", that lived in what is now North America, Europe and Russia from the Middle Silurian to Late Devonian....
, had an elongate headshield, that, coupled with its spear-like rostrum, gave it a throwing-dart-like appearance.
Neeyambaspis enigmaticaNeeyambaspis enigmatica is the lesser known of the two species of pituriaspid agnathans. The species lived in estuaries during the Middle Devonian, in what is now the Georgina Basin of Western Queensland, Australia....
had a much smaller and shorter rostrum, and a more triangular headshield, making it look as though it were a
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
pick with a tail (when it was alive, that is).