Response to comment on "Exceptional preservation of organs in Devonian placoderms from the Gogo largerstätte".
Kate M TrinajsticJohan A LongSophie SanchezCatherine A BoisvertDaniel SnittingPaul TfforeauVincent DupretAlice M ClementPeter David CurrieBrett RoelofsJoseph J BevittMichael S Y LeePer Erik AhlbergPublished in: Science (New York, N.Y.) (2023)
Jensen et al . ( 1 ) question evidence presented of a chambered heart within placoderms, citing its small size and apparently ventral atrium. However, they fail to note the belly-up orientation of the placoderm within one nodule, and the variability of heart morphology within extant taxa. Thus, we remain confident in our interpretation of the mineralized organ as the heart.