''Eobaphetes'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

embolomere Embolomeri is an order of tetrapods or stem-tetrapods, possibly members of Reptiliomorpha. Embolomeres first evolved in the Early Carboniferous ( Mississippian) Period and were the largest and most successful predatory tetrapods of the Late Carb ...

which likely lived in the

Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to: * A person or thing from Pennsylvania * Pennsylvanian (geology) The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesca ...

(late Carboniferous) of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

. The genus is based on several skull and jaw fragments of a single individual. They were originally described under the species ''Erpetosuchus kansasensis'', but this was later changed to ''Eobaphetes kansasensis'' when it was determined that ''Erpetosuchus'' was preoccupied by a Triassic reptile. The provenance of ''Eobaphetes'' is uncertain. According to a now lost label, its specimens were supposedly found in a

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

seam in

Washington County, Kansas Washington County (standard abbreviation: WS) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 5,530. Its county seat and largest city is Washington. History Early history For millennia, t ...

by fossil collector Gustav Hambach. However, coal deposits are unknown in this county. Plant fossils from Washington County, Kansas are of

Early Permian 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * ''O1'' (Hiroyuki Sawano ...

age, which may suggest that ''Eobaphetes'' came from an unrecorded Early Permian coal seam. In 1963, A.S. Romer suggested that Hambach actually collected the specimens from

Washington County, Arkansas Washington County is a regional economic, educational, and cultural hub in the Northwest Arkansas region. Created as Arkansas's 17th county on November 30, 1848, Washington County has 13 incorporated municipalities, including Fayetteville, the ...

. Early Pennsylvanian coal deposits (the

Namurian The Namurian is a stage in the regional stratigraphy of northwest Europe with an age between roughly 326 and 313 Ma (million years ago). It is a subdivision of the Carboniferous system or period and the regional Silesian series. The Namurian ...

or Westphalian A Baldwin coal of the

Bloyd Formation The Bloyd Formation, or Bloyd Shale, is a geologic formation in Arkansas. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carboniferous period. Stratigraphy The Bloyd Formation conformably overlies the Hale Formation and unconformably underlies the Ato ...

) have been found in that county. As a result, ''Eobaphetes'' may be one of the oldest embolomeres (if from Arkansas) or one of the youngest (if from Kansas). Hambach worked in both Kansas and Arkansas during his career. Chemical and

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, ...

analysis of the specimens' coal matrix finds little similarity to the Baldwin coal. Instead, it appears to be far more similar to the Nodaway coal of the Howard Limestone Formation. Spores indicate that this formation was deposited later in the Pennsylvanian, Westphalian D or Stephanian. The Howard Limestone is found in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

, and Kansas. This suggests that ''Eobaphetes'' did come from Kansas, though not necessarily Washington County. ''Eobaphetes'' has often been compared to ''

Anthracosaurus ''Anthracosaurus'' is an extinct genus of embolomere, a possible distant relative of reptiles that lived during the Late Carboniferous (around 310 million years ago) in what is now Scotland and England. It was a large, aquatic eel-like predator ...

'', and at one point was even synonymized with it. However, most authors consider it an eogyrinid like the majority of embolomeres. More specifically, it has been classified as a member of Leptophractinae, a subfamily of North American eogyrinids characterized by their circular orbits. Other leptophractines include '' Neopteroplax'' and ''

Leptophractus ''Leptophractus'' is an extinct genus of embolomere which is known from late Carboniferous coal mines near Linton, Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of s ...

''.

Phylogenetic analyses In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

suggest its closest relatives are ''

Carbonoherpeton ''Carbonoherpeton'' is an extinct genus of embolomere which lived in the Pennsylvanian (late Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Perio ...

'', "'' Pholiderpeton" (Eogyrinus) attheyi'', and ''

Calligenethlon ''Calligenethlon'' is an extinct genus of embolomere reptiliomorph from the Late Carboniferous of Joggins, Nova Scotia. It is the only definitively identified embolomere from the Joggins Fossil Cliffs and is the largest tetrapod to have been foun ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q107995094 Embolomeres Pennsylvanian amphibians of North America Paleontology in Kansas