Eryopiformes is a group of

rhachitomi Rhachitomi is a group of temnospondyl amphibians that includes all temnospondyls except edopoids and dendrerpetontids. It was established as a clade name by German paleontologist Rainer R. Schoch in 2013, although the name had first been esta ...

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

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s. Eryopiformes was named by the German paleontologist Rainer R. Schoch in 2013. He defined it as a

node-based taxon Phylogenetic nomenclature is a method of nomenclature for taxa in biology that uses phylogenetic definitions for taxon names as explained below. This contrasts with the traditional approach, in which taxon names are defined by a '' type'', which ...

to include

Eryopidae Eryopidae were a group of medium to large amphibious temnospondyli, known from North America and Europe. They are defined as all eryopoids with interpterygoid vacuities (spaces in the interpterygoid bone) that are rounded at the front; and larg ...

and

Stereospondylomorpha Stereospondylomorpha is a clade of temnospondyls. It includes the superfamily Archegosauroidea and the more diverse group Stereospondyli. Stereospondylomorpha was first proposed by Yates and Warren (2000), who found Archegosauroidea and Stereos ...

. Unlike previous analyses, a

phylogenetic 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 ...

analysis he performed found no support for a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

Euskelia, that is defined to include Dissorophoidea and

(and also usually includes

Zatracheidae Zatracheidae (sometimes mistakenly spelled Zatrachydidae or Zatrachysdidae) is a family of Late Carboniferous and Early Permian temnospondyli, temnospondyl amphibians known from North America and Europe. Zatracheidids are distinguished by lateral ...

), in relation to Stereospondylomorpha. In this analysis, Eryopidae and Stereospondylomorpha usually formed a monophyletic clade that excludes the clade formed by

and Dissorophoidea. Thus, he named this newly identified group as Eryopiformes.

References

Rhachitomes Carboniferous temnospondyls Permian temnospondyls Triassic temnospondyls Jurassic temnospondyls Cretaceous temnospondyls {{temnospondyli-stub