Another derived, sauropod like feature was a bony plate that lined the tooth row laterally and became thicker towards the tip of the snout.

Lacking distinct teeth, like all placoderms, they used the sharpened edges of a bony plate as a biting surface.

The preopercle, the bony plate just in front of the operculum, bears a few spines set at an angle.

Even the purpose of the bony plates lining its back remains a bit of a mystery.

Fossils from the dig have now enabled researchers to discount the theory that the shell originally formed from bony plates, like those on a crocodile, which expanded and fused together.