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	Osteolepis macrolepidotus      Osteolepis macrolepidotus (Berlin Nat. Hist. Museum)
	Osteolepis ("bone scale") was lobe-finned fish from the Late Devonian period, covered with large, square scales. The genus was first named by Agassiz in 1843. Its fossil, found in Lake Orcadie of northern Scotland, show it to have been 20 cm. or 8 in. long. The scales and plates on its head were covered with  a thin layer of spongy, bony material called cosmine. Pores on this surface layer led to tubes or canals connected to sensory cells deeper in the skin, probably used for sensing vibrations in the water. Osteolepis is placed in the order of tetrapodomorphs, with numerous features in common with tetrapods, and may have been fairly closely related to the first tetrapods.                                                                       References: Agassiz, L. 1843. Researches on Fossil Fish. Vol. 5
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