Question 1

How do you say Astraspis?

Accepted Answer

Astraspis is pronounced ASS-truh-spiss. Break it into three parts: ASS, then truh, then spiss. The first syllable gets the most stress. It sounds a bit like you are saying 'astra spiss,' almost like a character from a sci-fi movie. Once you say it a couple of times out loud it becomes easy to remember.

Question 2

What does Astraspis mean?

Accepted Answer

Astraspis means 'star shield' in Ancient Greek. The first part, astron, is the Greek word for star, and the second part, aspis, means shield. Scientists chose this name because the bony headplates of Astraspis have a star-like pattern of raised bumps and ridges on their surface. It is a very fitting name for an animal that wore a decorated bony armor on its head.

Question 3

Did Astraspis have a jaw?

Accepted Answer

No, Astraspis had no jaw at all. It was a jawless fish, part of a group scientists call agnathans, which means 'without jaw' in Greek. Instead of a jaw, it had a round, simple mouth opening that it likely used to suck up food from the seafloor. Jaws would not evolve in vertebrates until tens of millions of years after Astraspis went extinct.

Question 4

How old is Astraspis?

Accepted Answer

Astraspis lived during the Late Ordovician period, approximately 449 to 445 million years ago. That makes it over 100 million years older than the dinosaurs. To put it in perspective, when Astraspis was alive, there were no land animals at all, no insects, no plants with roots, nothing living on dry land yet. Life was almost entirely in the sea.

Question 5

Where were Astraspis fossils found?

Accepted Answer

Astraspis fossils have been found in Colorado, particularly in the Harding Sandstone formation, in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, and in Bolivia in South America. The fact that this ancient fish appears on two widely separated continents tells scientists it was a successful and widespread animal during its time. The Harding Sandstone is one of the most important Ordovician vertebrate fossil sites in the world.

Question 6

Is Astraspis related to any fish alive today?

Accepted Answer

Astraspis is not closely related to any fish alive today, but it is part of the very broad ancestral group that eventually gave rise to all vertebrates, including modern fish, and ultimately land animals including humans. Its closest living relatives would be lampreys and hagfish, which are also jawless. Astraspis itself went extinct over 445 million years ago and left no direct descendants.

Question 7

What did Astraspis eat?

Accepted Answer

Scientists believe Astraspis was most likely a filter feeder or bottom-feeder that used its jawless mouth to suck up organic matter, tiny microorganisms, or sediment from the seafloor of the shallow inland seas it inhabited. Because it had no jaw and no teeth, it could not bite or chase prey. The Ordovician seas it lived in were full of plankton and organic debris that would have provided plenty of food for a small, slow-moving creature like Astraspis.

Question 8

Why is Astraspis important to science?

Accepted Answer

Astraspis is hugely important because it is one of the oldest known vertebrates with mineralized bone tissue. Studying the microstructure of its bony headshield, which is made of a primitive bone material called aspidin, helps scientists understand how bone first evolved as a biological material. Since bone is a defining feature of vertebrates, including humans, understanding Astraspis helps explain one of the most foundational events in the history of animal life on Earth.

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