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Trematosauria
Trematosauria is one of two major groups of temnospondyl amphibians that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the other (according to Yates and Warren 2000) being the Capitosauria. The trematosaurs were a diverse and important group that included many medium-sized to large forms that were semi-aquatic to fully aquatic. The group included long-snouted forms such as the trematosauroids and short, broad-headed forms such as the metoposaurs. Although most groups did not survive beyond the Triassic, one lineage, the brachyopoids, continued until the Cretaceous period. Trematosauria is defined as all stereospondyls more closely related to '' Trematosaurus'' than to ''Parotosuchus'', a capitosaurian. Classification Phylogeny Cladogram after Yates and Warren (2000): References External links Temnospondyli: Trematosauriaat Palaeos Palaeos.com is a web site on biology, paleontology, phylogeny and geology and which covers the history of Earth. The site is well respecte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Brachyopoidea
Brachyopoidea is a superfamily of temnospondyls that lived during the Mesozoic. It contains the families Brachyopidae and Chigutisauridae. The earliest records of brachyopids are from the Lower Triassic in Australia. The latest-surviving member of the superfamily is the chigutisaurid '' Koolasuchus'' from the Early Cretaceous of Australia. Description Some large brachiopoids, such as ''Siderops'' and ''Koolasuchus'', grew to lengths of around . However, an unnamed Late Triassic or Early Jurassic brachiopoid from Lesotho in southern Africa is estimated to have been far larger. At an estimated , the brachiopoid from Lesotho is one of the largest amphibians ''sensu lato'' ever known. This estimate is based on a single jaw fragment found in 1970 by a French expedition near Alwynskop in Quthing. Because of its size, the fragment was initially considered to be from a mastodonsaur. However, Several features of the specimen indicate that it is from a brachyopoid. There is a large ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Rhytidosteidae
Rhytidosteidae is a family of Temnospondyli that lived in the Permian and Triassic. Phylogeny Below is a cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an Phylogenetic tree, evolutionary tree because it does not s ... from Dias-da-Silva and Marsicano (2011): References *Yates, AM (2000), A new tiny rhytidosteid (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyi) from the Early Triassic of Australia and the possibility of hidden temnospondyl diversity. J. Vert Paleontol. 20:484-489. External linksRhytidosteidae at Palaeos. Stereospondyli Permian temnospondyls Triassic temnospondyls Temnospondyl families Lopingian first appearances Early Triassic extinctions {{Temnospondyli-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Anaschisma
''Anaschisma'' ("ripped up") is an extinct genus of large temnospondyls. These animals were part of the family called Metoposauridae, which filled the crocodile-like predatory Ecological niche, niches in the late Triassic. It had a large skull about long, and possibly reached long. It was an ambush hunter, snapping up anything small enough to fit in its huge jaws. It was very common during the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian age) in what is now the American Southwest. History of discovery ''Anaschisma'' was erected by Branson (1905) from two metoposaurid skulls from the Popo Agie Formation (Carnian) of Wyoming. The generic name ''Anaschisma'' ("ripped up") was not explained but would derive from Ancient Greek ἀνασχίζω [anaskhizo] "rip up, rend", likely alluding to the fragmented state of the original fossils noted by Branson: "The skulls were in a hard matrix of arenaceous shale, and had been broken in many pieces." The type species, ''A. browni'', was coined for the sk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Brachyopomorpha
Brachyopomorpha is a clade of stereospondyl temnospondyls within the infraorder Trematosauria. It was constructed in 2000 to include '' Bothriceps australis'' and the superfamily Brachyopoidea. It is phylogenetically defined as a stem-based taxon including '' Pelorocephalus'' and all taxa closer to it than to '' Rhytidosteus''. In contrast, Brachyopoidea is defined as a node-based taxon including '' Brachyops'' and ''Pelorocephalus'' and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor. Because ''Bothriceps'' is not thought to be a descendant of that recent common ancestor and would be more basal than it, the genus is placed just outside Brachyopoidea and is considered to be a sister taxon to the clade. ''Bothriceps'' was once considered to be a brachyopid within Brachyopoidea, but is now placed on the brachyopoid stem closer to Brachyopoidea than to Rhytidosteidae Rhytidosteidae is a family of Temnospondyli that lived in the Permian and Triassic. Phylogeny Below ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Metoposauroidea
Metoposauroidea is an extinct superfamily of temnospondyls that lived from the Middle to Upper Triassic in North America, Europe and North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t .... Metoposauroidea includes the families Metoposauridae and Latiscopidae.http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Amphibia/Limnarchia/Metoposauroidea.htm Accessed 2007/12/16 References Trematosauria Triassic temnospondyls Middle Triassic first appearances Late Triassic extinctions {{Temnospondyli-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Plagiosauroidea
Plagiosauroidea is a superfamily of stereospondyl temnospondyls that lived in the Triassic period. This clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ... was defined as '' Laidleria'' + Plagiosauridae by Yates and Warren (2000). References *Warren (1998), Laidleria uncovered: a redescription of Laidleria gracilis Kitching (1957), a temnospondyl from the Cynognathus Zone of South Africa. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 122: 167–185. *Yates & Warren (2000), The phylogeny of the 'higher' temnospondyls (Vertebrata: Choanata) and its implications for the monophyly and origins of the Stereospondyli. Zool. J. Linnean Soc. 128: 77–121. External linksPlagiosauroidea at Palaeos. Trematosauria Triassic temnospondyls Early Triassic first appearances Late Triassic extinctions { ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Stereospondyli
The Stereospondyli are a group of extinct temnospondyl amphibians that existed primarily during the Mesozoic period. They are known from all seven continents and were common components of many Triassic ecosystems, likely filling a similar ecological niche to modern crocodilians prior to the diversification of pseudosuchian archosaurs. Classification and anatomy The group was first defined by Zittel (1888) on the recognition of the distinctive vertebral anatomy of the best known stereospondyls of the time, such as '' Mastodonsaurus'' and '' Metoposaurus''. The term 'stereospondylous' as a descriptor of vertebral anatomy was coined the following year by Fraas, referring to a vertebral position consisting largely or entirely of the intercentrum in addition to the neural arch. While the name 'Stereospondyli' is derived from the stereospondylous vertebral condition, there is a diversity of vertebral morphologies among stereospondyls, including the diplospondylous (' tupilakosaurid') ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Trematosauroidea
Trematosauroidea are an important group of Triassic temnospondyl amphibians. They flourished briefly during the Early Triassic, occurring worldwide before declining at the start of the Middle Triassic, although the group continued until the Late Triassic. They were medium-sized temnospondyls with wedge-shaped tails, narrow skulls, and, in advanced forms, elongated snouts. The latter feature was probably an adaptation for feeding on fish. The largest and most specialized family, the Trematosauridae, are the only batrachomorphs to have adapted to a marine lifestyle with the exception of the modern crab-eating frog. A temnospondyl ilium was described in 2004 from the Callovian Toutunhe Formation in the Junggar Basin of China. Although the isolated bone was impossible to identify on the species level, it was referred to Trematosauroidea. The presence of this bone in the Toutunhe Formation extends the range of trematosauroids into the Middle Jurassic, making it one of only three g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Capitosauria
Capitosauria is an extinct group of large temnospondyl amphibians with simplified stereospondyl vertebrae. Mainly living as piscivores in lakes and rivers, the Capitosauria and its sister taxon Trematosauria were the only major labyrinthodonts that existed during the Mesozoic in ecological niches broadly similar to those of modern crocodiles, and some grew to very large sizes. At 6 meters in length, the Mid-Triassic '' Mastodonsaurus giganteus'' is not only thought to have been the largest capitosaur, but possibly also the largest amphibian to have lived. The latest known remains are from the Rhaetian of Germany and are referred to '' Cyclotosaurus''. Capitosauria was first named by Schoch and Milner (2000) and further described by Yates and Warren (2000), who assigned ''Lydekkerina'' and Mastodonsauroidea to it. It was described by Damiani (2001) under the name Mastodonsauroidea. In their phylogenetic analysis of temnospondyls, Ruta ''et al.'' (2007) placed ''Lydekkerina'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Metoposauridae
Metoposauridae is an extinct family of trematosaurian temnospondyls. The family is known from the Triassic period. Most members are large, approximately long and could reach 3 m long.Brusatte, S. L., Butler R. J., Mateus O., & Steyer S. J. (2015). A new species of Metoposaurus from the Late Triassic of Portugal and comments on the systematics and biogeography of metoposaurid temnospondyls. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e912988., 2015: Metoposaurids can be distinguished from the very similar mastodonsauroids by the position of their eyes, placed far forward on the snout. Taphonomy Several mass accumulations of metoposaurid fossils are known from the southwestern United States and Morocco. These have often been interpreted as the result of mass deaths from droughts. Many individuals would have died in one area, creating a dense bone bed once fossilized. These mass accumulations of metoposaurids are often dominated by one taxa, such as ''Anaschisma'' or '' Metoposaurus''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Trematosaurus
''Trematosaurus'' is an extinct genus of trematosaurid temnospondyl amphibian found in Germany and Russia. It was first named by Hermann Burmeister in 1849 and the type species is ''Trematosaurus brauni''. History of study ''Trematosaurus'' was one of the first temnospondyls to be described. The type locality, called Merkel's Quarry, is in east-central Germany at Bernburg an der Saale within the Bausandstein (Olenekian) and was collected for several decades from the 1840s into the early 20th century, producing extensive cranial remains, although the majority of these are preserved as internal molds (steinkerns) or natural molds. The name ''Trematosaurus'' was in fact coined in 1842 by Carl von Braun, a frequent collector who used the Greek suffix ''trema'' ('hole') in reference to the pineal foramen to form the generic epithet, but as he provided no formal description, the name was not considered valid until the work of Burmeister, who named the type species after Braun. Burm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
