Recent research into the morphology of the megalichthyid Megalichthys pygmaeus Traquair, from the Midland Valley of Scotland

The ossified remains of several species of tetrapodomorph are found in fossil material collected from a number of coal waste tips from the Scottish Lower Coal Measure Formation in the Midland Valley of Scotland. The recovered fossil material includes well-preserved disarticulated and isolated remains of the megalichthyid Megalichthys pygmaeus Traquair, 1890. Data were collated from an extensive examination of the recovered remains of Megalichthys pygmaeus and the dermal skull bones of Megalichthys hibberti Agassiz, 1835. A comparison study was undertaken encompassing this new information with morphological information acquired from other known megalichthyids, hence a full reconstruction and description of the dermal head of Megalichthys pygmaeus is presented. In addition, a new type specimen commensurate in stratigraphy and locality to that of Traquair's holotype is designated. The paper concludes with an assessment of the current taxonomic position of Megalichthys pygmaeus .