DEVONIC FISHES OF THE NEW YORK FORMATIONS 



INTRODUCTION 



Since the publication by Professor John Strong Newberry, in 1889, of 

 an extensive Monograph on the Palaeozoic Fishes of North America^ our 

 knowledge of this group of fossil organisms has been vastly increased. 

 Devonic fishes, in particular, have furnished important information concern- 

 ing the organization and relations of primitive chordates, besides throwing 

 much new light on the early history of fishes and fishlike vertebrates. If 

 incertitude still exists regarding the larger problems of ancestry, we have at 

 least progressed further than any one would have deemed possible a genera- 

 tion ago, and have been able to determine with reasonable accuracy not 

 only the progressive stages of evolution passed through by various groups, 

 but also the manner in which certain fundamental structures, such as the 

 paired limbs, dentition, dermal covering, etc. arose. With increasing wealth 

 of material, some of it magnificently preserved, we have become almost as 

 well acquainted with the structure of certain genera, sometimes even includ- 

 ing the soft tissues, like the muscle fibers of Cladoselache, as with the 

 corresponding parts of modern fishes. 



All this notable advance has been made within comparatively few 

 years, and the results of modern paleontological research are scattered 

 throughout a wide series of publications in this country and abroad, not all 

 of them readily accessible. It is perhaps unfortunate that no single treatise 

 has yet been prepared on the Devonic fish fauna either of this country or 

 of Europe, since the quest for information regarding the fossil assemblages 

 of any particular region, or concerning the structure of particular genera, 

 involves no little expenditure of time and effort. A revised compendium, 

 therefore, along the lines of the now somewhat antiquated monograph by 

 Newberry would be an exceedingly welcome and useful contribution, and it 

 is hoped that some such work may yet be undertaken. 

 ' U. S. Geol. Sur. Monogr. v. 16. 1889. 



