Placoderms are a group of extinct fishes that existed from the beginning of the Silurian period (around 433 million years ago) until the end of the Devonian period (359 million years ago). The antiarch fish, a group to which our hero Asterolepis ornata belongs, is characterised by an elongated trunk armour and pectoral fins covered by armour plates.
Our hero can be found in the silt of the Gauja and Lode rivers in Latvia and Estonia, in the Šventoji formation in Lithuania, as well as in the north-western part of Russia – specifically in the regions of Leningrad and Vologda. The best fossils – completely intact skeletons – were found in the clay of the Lode formation in the Lode (Liepa) clay pit.
The antiarchs had a difficult life – they were very slow (one cannot get far with heavy armour and scales) and were poor swimmers, relying more on their heavy armour than on swimming skills. Judging by the structure of their jaws, they were peaceful fish that sustained themselves on nutrients found in the bed of rivers and just above it.
The last antiarchs died out at the very end of the Devonian period – leaving no descendants.
09.08.2014
Venue: Balonu meadow, Sigulda
From 18:00
Interactive workstations
From the moment of twilight
Nature symphony “Devons. Asterolepis ornata”
SCIENCE: Ervīns Lukševičs un Dabas aizsardzības pārvalde
PRODUCER: Roberts Rubīns
SCENOGRAPHER: Didzis Jaunzems
MUSIC: Aigars Voitišķis, Andris Sējāns, Ingus Ulmanis, Kaspars Tobis, Reinis Sējāns, Valdis Muktupāvels, Anrijs Grinbergs, Jekaterina Šarigina, Raimonds Petrasuskis, Artis Orubs and the Devonian orchestra.
Paleontologist with 30 years’ experience, researcher of ancient Devonian fish and first tetrapods on a global scale, University of Latvia professor.
Ģirts Stinkulis is associated professor at the Department of Geology, Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Latvia. He teaches courses on deposits and their sedimentary environments, geology.
Architect and urban planner, founder of the architecture practice DJA, based in Riga. Didzis has studied and gained practical experience of architecture and urban planning in Latvia, Norway and Italy. Likewise he has participated in architectural summer schools in The Netherlands and Finland, workshops in India, China and Switzerland, as well as various architectural competitions around the Europe.
