| Palatinerpeton Temporal range: Asselian ~ | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Amphibia |
| Order: | † Temnospondyli |
| Clade: | † Stereospondylomorpha (?) |
| Genus: | † Palatinerpeton Boy, 1996 |
| Type species | |
| †Palatinerpeton kraetschmeri Boy, 1996 | |
Palatinerpeton is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian. [1] Fossils have been found in the Lauterecken-Odernheim Formation of Germany. [2]
Palatinerpeton is one of several Late Carboniferous and Early Permian European temnospondyls with uncertain affinities; the others include Iberospondylus , Sclerocephalus , and Cheliderpeton . Phylogenetic studies have placed them as either early representatives of a group called Stereospondylomorpha, or close relatives of a group called Eryopidae. Stereospondylomorpha is a large clade mostly made up of Mesozoic taxa, while Eryopidae is a small family consisting of several Carboniferous and Permian temnospondyls. These two groups are usually considered distantly related. Schoch & Witzmann (2009) conducted a phylogenetic analysis in which Eryopidae and Stereospondylomorpha were found to be closely related, both members of a clade called Eryopoidea. Palatinerpeton was found to be the sister taxon of Eryopoidea. Below is a cladogram from their study: [1]
| Temnospondyli |
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Dissorophidae is an extinct family of medium-sized, temnospondyl amphibians that flourished during the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods. The clade is known almost exclusively from North America.
Dissorophoideans are a clade of medium-sized, temnospondyl amphibians that appeared during the Moscovian in Euramerica, and continued through to the Late Permian and the Early Triassic of Gondwana. They are distinguished by various details of the skull, and many forms seem to have been well adapted for life on land. Since 2008, Lissamphibia has been progressively widely considered part of this clade, but this position is still disputed by some authors.
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 fresh water, 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, claws, and armour-like bony plates, that distinguish them from modern amphibians.
Zatracheidae is a family of Late Carboniferous and Early Permian temnospondyl amphibians known from North America and Europe. Zatracheidids are distinguished by lateral (sideways) bony protuberances of the quadratojugal bone of the skull, and a large opening in the snout called the internarial fontanelle that is bordered by enlarged premaxillae. The skull is flattened, with small orbits or eye sockets set far back. The opening in the snout may have housed a gland for producing a sticky substance so that prey would adhere to the tongue. If so, this indicates that these animals spent a large part of their time on land.
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.
Archegosaurus is a genus of temnospondyl amphibian which lived during the Asselian to Wuchiapingian stages of the Permian, around 299-253 million years ago. The remains of this animal, consisting of at least 90 partial skeletons, have been found in Germany. The name Archegosaurus was coined by Goldfuss in 1847. Archegosaurus is a member of Archegosauridae and is that family's type genus.
Sclerocephalus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the lowermost Permian of Germany and Czech republic with four valid species, including the type species S. haeuseri. It is one of the most completely preserved and most abundant Palaeozoic tetrapods. Sclerocephalus was once thought to be closely related to eryopoid temnospondyls, but it is now thought to be more closely related to archegosauroids. It is the only genus in the family Sclerocephalidae.
Cheliderpeton is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian. It lived during the Early Permian in what is now Europe and Germany. Fossils have been found from the Ruprechtice horizon of the Intrasudetic Basin of Bohemia in the Czech Republic, as well as the Saar-Nahe Basin of southwestern Germany. Cheliderpeton had a 16 cm skull, and reached about 65 cm in length.
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.
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.
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.
The Amphibamidae are an extinct family of dissorophoid temnospondyls known from Late Carboniferous-Early Permian strata in the United States.
Olsoniformes is a clade of dissorophoid temnospondyls. It includes the families Dissorophidae and Trematopidae. Most members of the clade were highly adapted to a terrestrial lifestyle. The clade was named in 2008 and is defined as the least inclusive clade containing Dissorophus multicinctus and Acheloma cumminsi but not Amphibamus grandiceps, Micromelerpeton credneri, and Apateon pedestris. Olsoniforms share various features such as a stout and low ilium and a thin cultriform process.
Altenglanerpeton is an extinct genus of microsaur amphibian from the Late Carboniferous or Early Permian of Germany. Altenglanerpeton was named in 2012 after the Altenglan Formation in which it was found. The type and only species is A. schroederi.
Edopoidea is a clade of primitive temnospondyl amphibians including the genus Edops and the family Cochleosauridae. Edopoids are known from the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian of North America and Europe, and the Late Permian of Africa. They are among the most basal temnospondyls, and possess a number of primitive features that were lost in later members of the group.
Branchiosauridae is an extinct family of small amphibamiform temnospondyls with external gills and an overall juvenile appearance. The family has been characterized by hundreds of well-preserved specimens from the Permo-Carboniferous of Middle Europe. Specimens represent well defined ontogenetic stages and thus the taxon has been described to display paedomorphy (perennibranchiate). However, more recent work has revealed branchiosaurid taxa that display metamorphosing trajectories. The name Branchiosauridae refers to the retention of gills.
Eutemnospondyli is a clade of temnospondyl amphibians that includes most temnospondyls except edopoids. Eutemnospondyli was named by German paleontologist Rainer R. Schoch in 2013. He defined it as a stem-based taxon including all temnospondyls more closely related to Stereospondyli than to Edopoidea. In his phylogenetic analysis, Eutemnospondyli included dendrerpetontids and a clade he referred to as Rhachitomi. Rhachitomi is defined to include four major and well-supported clades of temnospondyls: Dvinosauria, Eryopidae, Stereospondyli and a clade formed by Zatracheidae and Dissorophoidea. Below is a cladogram from Schoch's analysis:
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 established in 1919 by British paleontologist D. M. S. Watson to encompass an evolutionary grade of temnospondyls leading to the group Stereospondyli. American paleontologist Alfred Romer used the term in a similar sense, grouping most Permian and Triassic temnospondyls under Rhachitomi. A similar name that appeared earlier in the scientific literature is Rachitomi, which was named by American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1882. Rachitomi was commonly used in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to include early amphibians such as Eryops and Archegosaurus that had rhachitomous vertebrae. Many early tetrapods have vertebrae that are split into two parts below the notochord: a pleurocentrum and an intercentrum. In rhachitomous vertebrae, the intercentrum is large and semicircular, while the pleurocentrum divided into two smaller paired elements. Schoch defined Rhachitomi as a node-based taxon to include four major and well-supported clades of temnospondyls: Dvinosauria, Eryopidae, Stereospondyli and a clade formed by Zatracheidae and Dissorophoidea. Not all members of Rhachitomi have rhachitomous vertebrae; the largest subgroup, Stereospondyli, lacks pleurocentra. Below is a cladogram from Schoch's analysis showing the placement of Rhachitomi within Temnospondyli:
Eryopiformes is a group of rhachitomi temnospondyl amphibians. Eryopiformes was named by the German paleontologist Rainer R. Schoch in 2013. He defined it as a node-based taxon to include Eryopidae and Stereospondylomorpha. Unlike previous analyses, a phylogenetic analysis he performed found no support for a monophyletic Euskelia, that is defined to include Dissorophoidea and Eryopidae, in relation to Stereospondylomorpha. In this analysis, Eryopidae and Stereospondylomorpha usually formed a monophyletic clade that excludes the clade formed by Zatracheidae and Dissorophoidea. Thus, he named this newly identified group as Eryopiformes.
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