Ventastega

Ventastega (Venta referring to the Venta River at the Ketleri Formation where Ventastega was discovered) is an extinct genus of stem tetrapod that lived during the Upper Fammenian of the Late Devonian, approximately 372.2 to 358.9 million years ago. Only one species is known that belongs in the genus, Ventastega curonica, which was described in 1996 after fossils were discovered in 1933 and mistakenly associated with a fish called Polyplocodus wenjukovi. ‘Curonica’ in the species name refers to Curonia, the Latin name for Kurzeme, a region in western Latvia. Ventastega curonica was discovered in two localities in Latvia, and was the first stem tetrapod described in Latvia along with being only the 4th Devonian tetrapodomorph known at the time of description. Based on the morphology of both cranial and post-cranial elements discovered (see below), Ventastega is more primitive than other Devonian tetrapodomorphs including Acanthostega and Ichthyostega, and helps further understanding of the fish-tetrapod transition.