Ailuracantha

Ailuracantha; Temporal range: Early Devonian
	Artist's reconstruction of A. dorsofelis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	†Placodermi
Order:	†Arthrodira
Family:	†Actinolepidae
Genus:	†Ailuracantha
Species:	†A. dorsifelis
Binomial name
	†Ailuracantha dorsifelis; White, 1969

Ailuracantha is a dubious extinct placoderm genus from the actinolepidae family. It was discovered in a layer of the Senni Beds near the Black Mountains in Wales, and it is represented by only one species: Ailuracantha dorsifelis.^[1]

Etymology

The generic name Ailuracantha comes from the Greek αἴλουρος (aílouros), meaning "cat", and ἄκανθος (akanthos), meaning "spine" or "thorn"; the type species dorsifelis comes from the Latin dorsum, meaning "back," and felis, also meaning "cat." Both specific and generic names are in reference to The Cat’s Back, a spur of the Black Mountains and the locality the holotype was recovered from.

Paleobiology

Ailuracantha is relatively standard for an actinolepid, possessing a small, slightly dorsoventrally flattened body with two proportionally large spines on its thoracic shield. Unlike other members of this taxonomic group, its pectoral spines possess a narrow under surface and deep mesial surface, possibly suggesting greater mobility in them than observed in its relatives. Its frontal region is ornamented with small, oval-shaped tubercles, which are extremely fine on its ventral side.

Ailuracantha was a freshwater fish that lived in floodplain regions. It was probably a benthopelagic predator that fed on small, soft-bodied invertebrates.