7.3" Devonian Armored Osteostracan (Victoraspis?) Fossil - Ukraine

This is a 7.3" long armored fish fossil known as an Osteostracan. It was collected from the Early Devonian (~414 million years old) Ustechko Stage of the Dniester Formation in Horodnytsia, Ukraine. What appear to be bones and scales remained relatively intact, along with the horseshoe shaped cephalothorac shield. Some of the identifying features of this armored fish didn't preserve or broke away and weren't recovered, making it difficult to conclusively identify. Based off of the present features, it's possible the genus of this fish was Victoraspis.

It comes with an acrylic display stand. There are repaired cracks through the rock where it broke during collection. The back of the rock has been stabilized

Osteostraci were a class of bony-armored, jawless fish (agnathans). They lived in what are now parts of North America, Europe and Russia and for the most part were considered to be bottom feeders. Most osteostracans from the early Devonian had horseshoe shaped cephalothorac shields, however specimens from the middle to late Devonian feature a reduced shield and a thicker dermal skeleton.