Devonian vertebrate biochronology and global marine/non-marine correlation

Vertebrates are rare in the Devonian boundaries type sections. Placoderms and acanthodians are known from the Pridoli-Lochkovian-Pragian type sequence of the Barrandian Basin. Unpublished microremains have been found in the proposed basal Emsian stratotype of Uzbekistan. The microremains of the basal Eifelian stratotype of Eifel roughly allow of distinguishing the Emsian from the Eifelian. Only preliminary studies have been made on microremains of the Frasnian/Famennian stratotype of Montagne Noire, France. A chondrichthyan-dominated microvertebrate assemblage has been described from the basal Carboniferous stratotype of Montagne Noire. However, numerous rich vertebrate faunas are known in detrital or carbonate-detrital sequences from all over the world. In these series, the main problem is the correlation to the standard, pelagic conodont zonation. Spore assemblage may help to solve this problem through correlation to the reference spore zonation of the Ardenno-Rhenish area. Two reference vertebrate successions are reviewed, viz., the East Baltic for the Old Red Sandstone Continent, and the Australian for East Gondwana. Various vertebrate zonations with either a regional, continental or worldwide potential have been defined, based upon 'agnathans' (pteraspidomorphs, galeaspids, thelodonts) or gnathostomes (placoderms, chondrichthyans, acanthodians, osteichthyans).