Temnospondyli is a diverse order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carboniferous, Permian, and Triassic periods. A few species continued into the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Fossils have been found on every continent. 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 considered amphibians, many had characteristics, such as scales and armour-like bony plates, that distinguish them from modern amphibians (lissamphibians).
The Stereospondyli are a group of extinct temnospondyl amphibians that existed primarily during the Mesozoic period. They are known from all seven continents and were common components of many Triassic ecosystems, likely filling a similar ecological niche to modern crocodilians prior to the diversification of pseudosuchian archosaurs.
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.
Konzhukovia is an amphibian genus that belongs to an extinct group of temnospondyls, the largest clade of basal tetrapods including about 198 genera, 292 species, and more than half of which were alive during the early Mesozoic period. The animal was a predator that lived about 260 million years ago, and could get up to about three meters in length. Specifically, Konzukovia lived during the Permian, between 252 and 270 million years ago according to the type of rock the fossil was found in. There are three species within this genus, K. vetusta, K. tarda, and K. sangabrielensis, the first two originating from Russia while the latest originating from Southern Brazil. The discovery of this specimen in Southern Brazil provided more evidence to support the idea that during this animals existence, there was a “biological corridor” because of the supercontinent Pangea, allowing these species to be found so far apart from each other. Konzhukovia belongs to the family Archegosauridae, a family consisted of large temnospondyls that most likely compare to modern day crocodiles. Since the discovery of the latest species, K. sangabrielensis, Pacheco proposes that there must be the creation of a new family, Konzhokoviidae, a monophyletic group in a sister-group relationship with Stereospondlyi in order to accommodate the three species. Konzhukovia skulls usually exhibit typical rhinesuchid features including an overall parabolic shape, small orbits located more posteriorly, and the pterygoids do not reach the vomer. These animals were long-snouted amphibians that had clear adaptations made for fish catching, as well as exemplifying aquatic features.
Deltasaurus is an extinct genus of Carnian temnospondyl amphibian of the family Rhytidosteidae.
Rhytidosteidae is a family of Temnospondyli that lived in the Permian and Triassic.
Rhinesuchidae is a family of tetrapods that lived primarily in the Permian period. They belonged to the broad group Temnospondyli, a successful and diverse collection of semiaquatic tetrapods which modern amphibians are probably descended from. Rhinesuchids can be differentiated from other temnospondyls by details of their skulls, most notably the interior structure of their otic notches at the back of the skull. They were among the earliest-diverging members of the Stereospondyli, a subgroup of temnospondyls with flat heads and aquatic habits. Although more advanced stereospondyls evolved to reach worldwide distribution in the Triassic period, rhinesuchids primarily lived in the high-latitude environments of Gondwana during the Guadalupian and Lopingian epochs of the Permian. The taxonomy of this family has been convoluted, with more than twenty species having been named in the past; a 2017 review recognized only eight of them to be valid. While several purported members of this group have been reported to have lived in the Triassic period, most are either dubious or do not belong to the group. However, at least one valid genus of rhinesuchid is known from the early Triassic, a small member known as Broomistega. The most recent formal definition of Rhinesuchidae, advocated by Mariscano et al. (2017) is that of a stem-based clade containing all taxa more closely related to Rhinesuchus whaitsi than to Lydekkerina huxleyi or Peltobatrachus pustulatus. A similar alternate definition is that Rhinesuchidae is a stem-based clade containing all taxa more closely related to Uranocentrodon senekalensis than to Lydekkerina huxleyi, Trematosaurus brauni, or Mastodonsaurus giganteus.
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.
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.
Rhytidosteoidea is a superfamily of Temnospondyli, early amphibian species that existed during the Carboniferous, Permian, and Triassic periods. The taxon was established in 1965 to accommodate two new species of Deltasaurus, the author recognising an alliance with previously described genera.
Indobrachyops is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Triassic of India. It is known from a nearly complete fossil skull that was first described by paleontologists Friedrich von Huene and M. R. Sahni in 1958 from the Panchet Formation in Raniganj Coalfield. Indobrachyops belongs to a group of mostly semi-aquatic temnospondyls called Stereospondyli, but its exact placement within the group has been uncertain since its first description.
Luzocephalus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Triassic of Russia. It is usually regarded as a member of the family Lydekkerinidae, although it has also been placed in the family Trematosauridae.
Rhineceps is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian in the family Rhinesuchidae. Rhineceps was found in Northern Malawi in Southern Africa known only from its type species R. nyasaensis. Rhineceps was a late Permian semi-aquatic carnivore that lived in streams, rivers, lakes or lagoons. Rhineceps is an early divergent Stereopondyl within the family Rhinesuchidae, which only existed in the late Permian (Lopingian) and failed to survive the Permian-Triassic extinction unlike other stereospondyl families.
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. Although the genus was first named in 1940, material from one species, E. yakovlevi, was originally tentatively referred to Trematosuchus in 1926.
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.
Pneumatostega is an extinct genus of rhytidosteid temnospondyl from the early Triassic period of Cape Province of South Africa. It is known from the holotype BPI F981, a dorsal mould of a skull roof and from the referred specimen SAM 11188, partial skull fragments and postcranial remains recovered from the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone in the Beaufort Group near Middelburg. This genus was named by J. W. Cosgriff and J. M. Zawiskie in 1979, and the type species is Pneumatostega potamia.
Trucheosaurus is an extinct genus of rhytidosteid temnospondyl from the Late Permian period of the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia. It is known from the holotype materials MMF 12697a, a partially complete skull, AMF 50977, an articulated postcranial skeleton and BMNHR 3728, the counterpart of both skull and postcranial skeleton, recovered from the Glen Davis Formation. This genus was named by Watson in 1956, and the type species is Trucheosaurus major.
Vigilius is an extinct genus of brachyopid temnospondyl amphibian from the Triassic of Arizona. It is known from the single type species Vigilius wellesi.
Manubrantlia was a genus of lapillopsid from the Early Triassic Panchet Formation of India. This genus is only known from a single holotype left jaw, given the designation ISI A 57. Despite the paucity of remains, the jaw is still identifiable as belonging to a relative of Lapillopsis. For example, all three of its coronoid bones possessed teeth, the articular bone is partially visible in lateral (outer) view, and its postsplenial does not contact the posterior meckelian foramen. However, the jaw also possesses certain unique features which justify the erection of a new genus separate from Lapillopsis. For example, the mandible is twice the size of any jaws referred to other lapillopsids. The most notable unique feature is an enlarged "pump-handle" shaped arcadian process at the back of the jaw. This structure is responsible for the generic name of this genus, as "Manubrantlia" translates from Latin to the English expression "pump-handle". The type and only known species of this genus is Manubrantlia khaki. The specific name refers to the greenish-brown mudstones of the Panchet Formation, with a color that had been described as "khaki" by the first British geologists who studied the formation.
Latiscopus disjunctus is a small Late Triassic temnospondyl collected in 1940 by a Works Projects Administration crew working near Otis Chalk, Texas that was described by John Wilson in 1948.
