Intasuchidae

''Intasuchus'' is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Middle Permian of Russia. It is known from a single species, ''Intasuchus silvicola'', which was named in 1956. ''Intasuchus'' belongs to the family Intasuchidae and is probably its sole member, although other taxa such as '' Syndyodosuchus'' and '' Cheliderpeton'' have been assigned to the family in the past. ''Intasuchus'' most likely belongs to the group Archegosauroidea, Permian relatives of the large, mostly Mesozoic temnospondyl clade Stereospondyli.

Description

''Intasuchus'' has a long, flattened skull that narrows slightly toward the front. Prominent ridges run along the skull surface from the eye sockets to the nostril openings. The otic notch at the back of the skull is relatively narrow in comparison to other temnospondyls, although it extends as a groove along the sides of the skull table. ''Intasuchus'' has large teeth on the roof of its mouth, with a large row between two openings of the palate called choanae, tusks on the palatine bones, and small teeth extending along the ectopterygoid.

Classification

The phylogenetic analysis of Schoch and Milner (2000) placed ''Intasuchus'' as a basal member of a group called Archegosauriformes. It was placed among archegosauroids, although Archegosauroidea was found to be a paraphyletic assemblage of taxa basal to Stereospondyli. ''Intasuchus silvicola'' was recovered as the sister taxon of ''Cheliderpeton latirostre'' (now known as ''Glanochthon latirostre''). Below is a cladogram from that analysis:

References

Permian temnospondyls
Fossils of Russia
Fossil taxa described in 1956
Prehistoric amphibian genera

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