EARLY RESEARCH OF PALEOZOIC AGNATHANS AND FISHES: THE STUDIES OF STEPAN SEMYONOVICH KUTORGA (1805-1861)

Agnathans and fishes with massive bone armors were widely spread among the vertebrates in the Early Paleozoic. Their remains were well preserved in fossil state. At present, many species of Devonian agnathans and fishes have been described and studied. Different taxonomic systems have been suggested based on their fossil exoskeletal elements. But in the first part of the nineteenth century, when scientists first came across such remains, their nature was not immediately understood. Discovered remains of armored ichthyofauna were identified as bones of reptiles and amphibians even by outstanding scientists of that time. Professor of the Imperial St. Petersburg University Stepan Semyonovich Kutorga was among them. This article supplies a brief biography of the scientist and an analysis of his works in the formative period of vertebrate paleontology in Russia. S. S. Kutorga was at the origin of the system of monographic descriptions and collections - the most important source of information in fundamental paleontological research. Kutorga’s collection, currently stored at the St. Petersburg State University, is the first monographic collection of Devonian ichthyofauna in our country.