TETRAPOD OR NEAR-TETRAPOD FOSSILS FROM THE UPPER DEVONIAN OF SCOTLAND

SINCE 1932, the earliest known undisputed tetrapods have been of uppermost Famennian (late Upper Devonian) age 1-3. Although a probable tetrapod jaw has been described from the Lower Famennian 4, and tetrapod tracks of supposedly Frasnian 5 (and possibly earlier 6) age are known, no fossil limb material older than the latest Famennian has been discovered. The 'panderichthyids' Panderichthys 7 and Elpistostege 8 from the Lower Frasnian (early Upper Devonian) are regarded by some 8-10 as the closest known sister group of tetrapods, but Panderichthys has paired fins rather than limbs 11. Here, I describe a hitherto unrecognized tibia from the Upper Frasnian (middle Upper Devonian) site of Scat Craig, near Elgin, Scotland 12-14, collected during the nineteenth century, which extends the fossil record of the tetrapod-type hind limb by roughly seven million years 15. Other isolated bones from the same locality also show tetrapod characteristics. The tibia, a humerus and some incomplete jaws are discussed below, but a complete description of the material is in preparation.