''Actiobates'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

trematopid Trematopidae is a family of dissorophoid temnospondyls spanning the late Carboniferous to the early Permian. Together with Dissorophidae, the family forms Olsoniformes, a clade comprising the medium-large terrestrial dissorophoids. Trematopids ar ...

temnospondyl Temnospondyli (from Greek language, Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order (biology), order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered Labyrinth ...

that lived during the

Late Carboniferous Late or LATE may refer to: Everyday usage * Tardy, or late, not being on time * Late (or the late) may refer to a person who is dead Music * Late (The 77s album), ''Late'' (The 77s album), 2000 * Late (Alvin Batiste album), 1993 * Late!, a pseudo ...

. It is known from the Garnett Quarry in Kansas.

History of study

''Actiobates peabodyi'' was named in 1973 by Theodore Eaton. The genus name derives from the Greek words ' ("shore") and ' ("walker"), referring to the

estuarine An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

nature of the Garnett Quarry deposits, and the specific name is for the American paleontologist

Frank Peabody Frank Elmer Peabody (28 August 1914 - 27 June 1958), was an American palaeontologist noted for his research on fossil trackways and reptile and amphibian skeletal structure. He attended high school and junior college in the San Francisco Bay Are ...

. The taxon is based on a single specimen represented by a partial skull and associated postcranial skeleton that is currently deposited at the

University of Kansas Natural History Museum The University of Kansas Natural History Museum is part of the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, a KU designated research center dedicated to the study of the life of the planet. The museum's galleries are in Dyche Hall on the uni ...

Anatomy

The holotype of ''A. peabodyi'' is dorsoventrally compressed, obscuring many details of the anatomy. Schoch & Milner (2014) listed only one diagnostic feature for the taxon, a quadratojugal excluded from the smooth ventral border of the otic notch.

Relationships

Eaton (1973) originally classified ''Actiobates'' as a dissorophid but only because he considered the differences between dissorophids and trematopids to be insufficient to warrant their differentiation. Subsequent phylogenetic analyses have generally refrained from including ''Actiobates'' in their analysis because of its interpretation as a putative larval individual, but it is widely accepted to be a trematopid in recent studies.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4677029 Dissorophidae Prehistoric amphibian genera Carboniferous temnospondyls of North America Fossil taxa described in 1973

History of study

Anatomy

Relationships

See also

References