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Bothriolepis was a bottom feeding armored fish that lived in brackish water and seas, in the middle of the Late Devonian period, about 370 million years ago. It has been found in every continent except Africa and South America. Bothriolepis had a blunt head and wide body covered with plates that measured about 10 inches (25cm) in length. The tail and posterior part of the trunk had no armor. The overall size of the living fish would have been about 24 inches (60cm). With two pockets, which served as lungs, if stranded on land it could breath air until it again found water.

As one of the earliest known Placoderms, Bothriolepis represents a very important link to understanding the evolutionary journey of fish.