Porolepiformes is an order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 of prehistoric lobe-finned fish which lived during the Devonian

Devonian

The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...

 period (about 416 to 359 million years ago). The group contains two families

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

: Holoptychiidae

Holoptychiidae

Holoptychiidae is an extinct family of lobe-finned fishes which lived during the Devonian period. At least one genus, Laccognathus, is thought to have been amphibious....

 and Porolepididae.

Porolepiformes was established by the Swedish paleontologist Erik Jarvik, and were thought to have given rise to the salamander

Salamander

Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...

s and caecilian

Caecilian

The caecilians are an order of amphibians that superficially resemble earthworms or snakes. They mostly live hidden in the ground, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. All extant caecilians and their closest fossil relatives are grouped as the clade Apoda. They are mostly...

s independently of the other tetrapod

Tetrapod

Tetrapods are vertebrate animals having four limbs. Amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are all tetrapods; even snakes and other limbless reptiles and amphibians are tetrapods by descent. The earliest tetrapods evolved from the lobe-finned fishes in the Devonian...

s. He based this conclusion on the shapes of the snouts of the aforementioned groups. This view is no longer in favour in Paleontology

Paleontology

Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...

.

Jarvik also claimed the existence of choanae in porolepiformes which linked them to tetrapods, but this has remained controversial. Recent phylogenetic reconstruction places porolepiformes close to lungfishes.

More recent evidence has shown that at least one genus Laccognathus

Laccognathus

Laccognathus is an extinct genus of amphibious lobe-finned fish from Europe and North America. They existed from the Middle Devonian to the Late Devonian...

was most likely amphibious

Amphibious fish

Amphibious fish are fish that are able to leave water for extended periods of time. About 11 distantly related genera of fish are considered amphibious. This suggests that many fish genera independently evolved amphibious traits. These fish use a range of terrestrial locomotory modes, such as...

.