A new species of bothriolepidid antiarch (Pisces, Placodermi) from the Zadonskian Horizon (Upper Devonian) of the Central Devonian Field

A new placoderm species, Bothriolepis sosnensis sp. nov., from the Zadonskian Horizon (Lower Famennian) of the gravelly sands in the Lime Factory quarry situated at the southwestern outskirts of the town of Livny (Orel Region) is described. The new species sharply differs from all known Bothriolepis species in the shape and proportions of the nuchal and anterior median dorsal plates and elongate paired supraotic pits on the nuchal plate. It also differs from the majority of Famennian members of the genus Bothriolepis by the character of the passage of the infraorbital groove on the external surface of the head plates.