''Discosauriscus'' was a small seymouriamorph which lived in what is now Central and Western Europe in the Early

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Pale ...

Period. Its best fossils have been found in the Broumov and Bačov Formations of Boskovice Furrow, in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

Classification

''Discosauriscus'' belongs to the order

Seymouriamorpha Seymouriamorpha were a small but widespread group of limbed vertebrates (tetrapods). They have long been considered reptiliomorphs, and most paleontologists may still accept this point of view, but some analyses suggest that seymouriamorphs are ...

, and is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nomina ...

of the family

Discosauriscidae Discosauriscidae is a family of stegocephalia Stegocephali (often spelled Stegocephalia) is a group containing all four-limbed vertebrates. It is equivalent to a broad definition of Tetrapoda: under this broad definition, the term "tetrapod" ...

. Currently recognised are two valid species - ''Discosauriscus austriacus'' and ''Discosauriscus pulcherrimus''. ''Letoverpeton'' is a junior synonym of ''Discosauriscus''.

Characteristics

Discosauriscids were long thought to be known from

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Th ...

l or

neotenic Neoteny (), also called juvenilization,Montagu, A. (1989). Growing Young. Bergin & Garvey: CT. is the delaying or slowing of the physiological, or somatic, development of an organism, typically an animal. Neoteny is found in modern humans compare ...

forms, and three ontogenetic stages had been distinguished.Klembara, Jozef. 1996. Discosauriscus. Version 1 January 1996. http://tolweb.org/Discosauriscus/17544/1996.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/ However, more recent studies concluded that some subadult, probably terrestrial specimens were known, so the case for neoteny in this taxon is not as well-supported as once thought. ''Discosauriscus'' had wide jaws with sharp teeth, short limbs and relatively long tail. The

phalangeal formula The phalanges (singular: ''phalanx'' ) are digital bones in the hands and feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the thumbs and big toes have two phalanges while the other digits have three phalanges. The phalanges are classed as long bones ...

was 2-3-4-5-3 for both hind- and forelimbs. The body was covered with rounded scales with concentric rings, and a well-preserved lateral-line system has been described. ''Discosauriscus'' may have had electroreceptive organs.Klembara, J, Electroreceptors in the Lower Permian tetrapod Discosauriscus austriacus, Palaeontology, Vol 37, part 3, (1994)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2279031 Seymouriamorphs Basal tetrapods of Europe Cisuralian tetrapods of Europe Fossils of the Czech Republic Fossil taxa described in 1933