Capitosauria

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Capitosauria
Temporal range: Early Triassic–Late Triassic
Mastodonsaurus DB.jpg
Mastodonsaurus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Temnospondyli
Suborder: Stereospondyli
Clade: Capitosauria
Schoch and Milner, 2000
Subgroups

Capitosauria is an extinct group of large temnospondyl amphibians with simplified stereospondyl vertebrae. Mainly living as piscivores in lakes and rivers, the Capitosauria and its sister taxon Trematosauria were the only major labyrinthodonts that existed during the Mesozoic in ecological niches broadly similar to those of modern crocodiles, and some grew to very large sizes. At 6 meters in length, the Mid-Triassic Mastodonsaurus giganteus is not only thought to have been the largest capitosaur, but possibly also the largest amphibian to have lived. [1] The latest known remains are from the Rhaetian of Germany and are referred to Cyclotosaurus . [2]

Contents

Capitosauria was first named by Schoch and Milner (2000) and further described by Yates and Warren (2000), who assigned Lydekkerina and Mastodonsauroidea to it. [3] [4] It was described by Damiani (2001) under the name Mastodonsauroidea. [5] In their phylogenetic analysis of temnospondyls, Ruta et al. (2007) placed Lydekkerina and its relatives within the clade Rhytidostea, while placing only mastodonsauroid taxa within Capitosauria. [6]

Phylogeny

Below is a cladogram from Fortuny et al. (2011) showing the phylogenetic relationships of capitosaurs: [7]

Stereospondyli

Lydekkerina huxleyi

Rhinesuchidae

Rhineceps nyasaensis

Uranocentrodon senekalensis

Capitosauria

Wetlugasaurus angustifrons

Odenwaldia heidelbergensis

Vladlenosaurus alexeyevi

Edingerella madagascariensis

Watsonisuchus spp.

Xenotosuchus africanus

Cherninia denwai

Paracyclotosaurus crookshanki

Stanocephalosaurus pronus

Stanocephalosaurus birdi

Procyclotosaurus stantonensis

Eocyclotosaurus spp.

Quasicyclotosaurus campi

Parotosuchus orenburgensis

Calmasuchus acri

Cyclotosaurus robustus

Tatrasuchus wildi

Eryosuchus garjainovi

Mastodonsaurus giganteus

Trematosauria

Benthosuchus sushkini

Trematosauroidea

Thoosuchus yakovlevi

Angusaurus spp.

Trematosaurus brauni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temnospondyli</span> Ancestors of modern amphibians adapted to life on land

Temnospondyli or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods, with fossils being found on every continent. A few species continued into the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods, but all had gone extinct by the Late Cretaceous. During about 210 million years of evolutionary history, they adapted to a wide range of habitats, including freshwater, terrestrial, and even coastal marine environments. Their life history is well understood, with fossils known from the larval stage, metamorphosis and maturity. Most temnospondyls were semiaquatic, although some were almost fully terrestrial, returning to the water only to breed. These temnospondyls were some of the first vertebrates fully adapted to life on land. Although temnospondyls are amphibians, many had characteristics such as scales and armour-like bony plates that distinguish them from the modern soft-bodied lissamphibians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trematosauria</span> Extinct clade of amphibians

Trematosauria is one of two major groups of temnospondyl amphibians that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the other being the Capitosauria. The trematosaurs were a diverse and important group that included many medium-sized to large forms that were semi-aquatic to fully aquatic. The group included long-snouted forms such as the trematosauroids and short, broad-headed forms such as the metoposaurs. Although most groups did not survive beyond the Triassic, one lineage, the brachyopoids, continued until the Cretaceous period. Trematosauria is defined as all stereospondyls more closely related to Trematosaurus than to Parotosuchus, a capitosaurian.

<i>Eryosuchus</i> Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Eryosuchus is an extinct genus of capitosauroid temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic of northern Russia. It was a very large predator: the largest specimen known could reach up to 3.5 m (11.5 ft) in length, with a skull over 1 m long.

<i>Cyclotosaurus</i> Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Cyclotosaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl within the family Mastodonsauridae. It was of great size for an amphibian, had an elongated skull up to 56 cm (22 in).

<i>Benthosuchus</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Benthosuchus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Triassic of Russia. It was primarily aquatic, living in rivers and lakes. Multiple species are known, with the largest reaching about 2.5 meters in length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydekkerinidae</span> Extinct family of temnospondyls

Lydekkerinidae is a family of stereospondyl temnospondyls that lived in the Early Triassic period. During this time period, lydekkerinids were widely distributed, with putative remains reported from Russia, Greenland, India, South Africa, Madagascar, Australia, and Antarctica. In contrast to most other stereospondyls, lydekkerinids were relatively small-bodied. The type genus is Lydekkerina, the namesake of the family and the best-known lydekkerinid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stereospondylomorpha</span> Extinct clade of amphibians

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 Stereospondyli to be sister taxa in their phylogenetic analysis. A similar clade is Archegosauriformes, named by Schoch and Milner (2000), which includes Stereospondyli and some Permian temnospondyls that are similar in appearance to stereospondyls, including the archegosauroids. However, according to Schoch and Milner's phylogeny, Archegosauroidea is a paraphyletic group of taxa that are successively basal to Stereospondyli, rather than a monophyletic sister taxon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Limnarchia</span> Extinct clade of amphibians

Limnarchia is a clade of temnospondyls. It includes the mostly Carboniferous-Permian age Dvinosauria and the mostly Permian-Triassic age Stereospondylomorpha. The clade was named in a 2000 phylogenetic analysis of stereospondyls and their relatives. Limnarchia means "lake rulers" in Greek, in reference to their aquatic lifestyles and long existence over a span of approximately 200 million years from the Late Carboniferous to the Early Cretaceous. In phylogenetic terms, Limnarchia is a stem-based taxon including all temnospondyls more closely related to Parotosuchus than to Eryops. It is the sister group of the clade Euskelia, which is all temnospondyls more closely related to Eryops than to Parotosuchus. Limnarchians represent an evolutionary radiation of temnospondyls into aquatic environments, while euskelians represent a radiation into terrestrial environments. While many euskelians were adapted to life on land with strong limbs and bony scutes, most limnarchians were better adapted for the water with poorly developed limbs and lateral line sensory systems in their skulls.

Almasaurus is an extinct genus of trematosaurian temnospondyl within the family Latiscopidae. It is known from several skulls and some postcranial material found from the Argana Formation in Morocco, which dates back to the Late Triassic.

Abiadisaurus is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibian from the Temnospondyli clade. It is known solely from the Late Triassic Adigrat Sandstone of Ethiopia.

Bukobaja is an extinct genus of mastodonsaurid temnospondyl from the middle Triassic of Russia. It contains a single species, Bukobaja enigmatica. Bukobaja mainly occurs in the Bukobay Svita as part of the Ladinian?-age "Mastodonsaurus fauna", a section of Russian Triassic biostratigraphy characterized by "Mastodonsaurus" torvus. It was also present in the underlying Donguz Svita. Bukobaja appears to be a valid genus similar to, yet distinct from, Mastodonsaurus. Despite appearing to possess several unique features, Bukobaja is still known from very few remains. This has led to difficulties in determining its relations more precisely than "Mastodonsauridae incertae sedis". It has also been compared to trematosaurids.

<i>Bulgosuchus</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Bulgosuchus is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibians, known from an incomplete mandible and a femur recovered from the Bulgo Sandstone at Long Reef in Sydney, Australia. The type species is Bulgosuchus gargantua, which was named in 1999.

<i>Lapillopsis</i> Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Lapillopsis is an extinct genus of stereospondyl temnospondyl within the family Lapillopsidae. Fossils belonging to the genus have been found in the Arcadia Formation of Queensland, Australia.

<i>Odenwaldia</i> Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Odenwaldia is an extinct genus of mastodonsauroid temnospondyl within the family Heylerosauridae.

Wellesaurus is an extinct genus of mastodonsauroid temnospondyl. They were amphibious carnivores that lived in freshwater environments.

<i>Thoosuchus</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Thoosuchus is an extinct genus of basal trematosauroid trematosaurian temnospondyl. Fossils have been found from Russia and date back to the Early Triassic. It is the type genus of the family Thoosuchidae, formerly called the subfamily Thoosuchinae and placed within Benthosuchidae. The benthosuchids were originally composed of the majority of basal trematosaurian forms regarded as the ancestors of the trematosaurids.

<i>Stenotosaurus</i> Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Stenotosaurus is an extinct genus of capitosaurian temnospondyl within the family Stenotosauridae. It is known from three species, all of which lived during the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic. Fossils have been found in England and Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhytidostea</span> Extinct clade of amphibians

Rhytidostea is a clade of stereospondyl temnospondyls. It was erected in 2000 to include several temnospondyl groups distinct from the "higher" group of capitosaurs, including lydekkerinids, brachyopoids, and rhytidosteids. Rhytidosteans first appeared in the Permian period and underwent an evolutionary radiation during the Induan stage of the Early Triassic. Along with capitosaurs, rhytidosteans comprise much of the larger suborder Stereospondyli. Rhytidostea has often been considered the sister group of the clade Capitosauria, but has been placed in various other phylogenetic positions. In many studies, members of Rhytidostea are split, with lydekkerinids having a more basal position among stereospondyls while rhytidosteids and brachyopoids form a group placed among the more derived trematosaurian stereospondyls.

<i>Edingerella</i> Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Edingerella is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Triassic of Madagascar. It is a basal capitosaur closely related to Watsonisuchus.

Tatrasuchus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic of Poland. It is classified as a member of the family Cyclotosauridae or Mastodonsauridae. It is closely related to the genus Cyclotosaurus. The type species, Tatrasuchus kulczyckii, was named in 1996. Damiani (2001) considered genus Kupferzellia Schoch (1997) from Middle Triassic of Germany to be a junior synonym of Tatrasuchus, and recombined its type species, K. wildi as the second species of Tatrasuchus. This classification was followed by some authors, e.g. Fortuny et al. (2011); other authors, e.g. Schoch (2008), maintain Tatrasuchus and Kupferzellia as distinct genera.

References

  1. "Capitosauria". Palaeos . Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  2. Konietzko-Meier, Dorota; Werner, Jennifer D.; Wintrich, Tanja; Martin Sander, P. (31 October 2018). "A large temnospondyl humerus from the Rhaetian (Late Triassic) of Bonenburg (Westphalia, Germany) and its implications for temnospondyl extinction". Journal of Iberian Geology. 45 (2): 287–300. doi:10.1007/s41513-018-0092-0. ISSN   1698-6180. S2CID   134049099.
  3. Schoch, R. R.; Milner, A. R. (2000). "Stereospondyli". In P. Wellnhofer (ed.). Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie. Vol. 3B. Munich: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil. p. 203.
  4. Yates, A. M.; Warren, A. A. (2000). "The phylogeny of the "higher" temnospondyls (Vertebrata: Choanata) and its implications for the monophyly and origins of Stereospondyli". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 128: 77–121. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2000.tb00650.x .
  5. Damiani, R. J. (2001). "A systematic revision and phylogenetic analysis of Triassic mastodonsauroids (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 133 (4): 379–482. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2001.tb00635.x .
  6. Ruta, M.; Pisani, D.; Lloyd, G. T.; Benton, M. J. (2007). "A supertree of Temnospondyli: cladogenetic patterns in the most species-rich group of early tetrapods". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 274 (1629): 3087–3095. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1250. PMC   2293949 . PMID   17925278.
  7. Fortuny, J.; Galobart, À.; Santisteban, C. D. (2011). "A New Capitosaur from the Middle Triassic of Spain and the Relationships within the Capitosauria". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 56 (3): 553. doi: 10.4202/app.2010.0025 .