What is "phyllolepis"

Phyllolepis ("Leaf scale") is the type genus of Phyllolepida, an extinct taxon of arthrodire placoderm fish from the Devonian. The species of Phyllolepis, themselves, are restricted to Famennian-aged freshwater strata of the Late Devonian.

Phyllolepis lived in freshwater environments, possibly rivers and streams. As with all other known phyllolepids, the species of Phyllolepis were presumed to have been blind, bottom-dwelling predators that detected prey through sensory organs in the surface grooves of their armor plates (which give their plates a distinctive "wooden surface" appearance). Their fossils are found in Europe and North America.