Heterostraci

![Among the most primitive heterostracans are tolypelepids (top right). Most heterostracans are pteraspidiforms, such as the pteraspidids (bottom right), doryaspidids (bottom left) and the huge psammosteids (top left), which are the youngest known members of the group.[1]](/uploads/202501/18/Heterostraci12018.gif)
Heterostraci ("Different scales") is an extinct subclass of pteraspidomorph jawless vertebrate that lived primarily in marine and estuary environments. The first identifiable heterostracans appear in the fossil record during the early Silurian, and all, save for the Psammosteids, became extinct by the start of the late Devonian. This last group of heterostracans died out in the extinction event at the end of the Devonian.