Parapytanga

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Parapytanga
Temporal range: MiddleLate Permian 272.5–254.0  Ma
Parapytanga.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Temnospondyli
Suborder: Stereospondyli
Family: Rhinesuchidae (?)
Genus: Parapytanga
Strapasson et al., 2015
Species:
P. catarinensis
Binomial name
Parapytanga catarinensis
Strapasson et al., 2015

Parapytanga is an extinct monotypic genus of temnospondyl, the type species being Parapytanga catarinensis. Parapytanga belongs to the family Rhinesuchidae. Fossils have been found in the Middle Permian Rio do Rasto Formation of Brazil. [1]

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">Eryopidae</span> Extinct family of amphibians

Eryopidae were a group of medium to large amphibious temnospondyls, known from North America and Europe. They are defined as all eryopoids with interpterygoid vacuities that are rounded at the front; and large external nares. Not all of the genera previously included in the Eryopidae are retained under the cladistic revisions.

<i>Prionosuchus</i> Genus of amphibians (fossil)

Prionosuchus is an extinct genus of large temnospondyl. A single species P. plummeri, is recognized from the Early Permian. Its fossils have been found in what is now northeastern Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archegosauridae</span> Extinct family of amphibians

Archegosauridae is a family of relatively large and long snouted temnospondyls that lived in the Permian period. They were fully aquatic animals, and were metabolically and physiologically more similar to fish than modern amphibians. The family has been divided into two subfamilies, the longer-snouted Platyoposaurinae and the shorter-snouted Melosaurinae.

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

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.

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

Kamacops is a genus of dissorophid temnospondyls known from the Middle to Late Permian of Russia that was described by Yuri Gubin in 1980. It is known from a single species, Kamacops acervalis, material of which is currently reposited in the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Kamacops is one of the youngest dissorophids, along with Iratusaurus and Zygosaurus from Russia and Anakamacops from China and was one of the largest known dissorophids, with an estimated skull length of 24–30 cm. It is typically recovered as being most closely related to Zygosaurus and to the North American Cacops. A detailed study of the braincase region was performed by Schoch (1999), one of the first to examine this region in dissorophids. This study revealed extensive co-ossification of the braincase.

<i>Konzhukovia</i> Genus of amphibians (fossil)

Konzhukovia is an amphibian genus that belongs to an extinct family Konzhukoviidae 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.

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

Australerpeton is an extinct genus of stereospondylomorph temnospondyl currently believed to belong to the family Rhinesuchidae. When first named in 1998, the genus was placed within the new family Australerpetontidae. However, studies published a few years later questioned the systematics used in the original description and included the genus within Archegosauridae. A study by Dias & Schultz (2003) reassigned Australerpeton to the family Rhinesuchidae within the suborder Stereospondyli based on an earlier evaluation of the family. In this study, the close similarities between Australerpeton and archegosaurids were attributed to convergent evolution as a result of similar semi-aquatic lifestyles. A redescription of the skeleton of this genus was published by Eltink & Langer in 2014, and the skull was redescribed in a follow-up study published by Eltink et al. in 2016. These studies, as well as a 2017 study focusing on rhinesuchids in general, confirmed that Australerpeton was a rhinesuchid rather than an archegosaurid. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Rio do Rasto Formation of Brazil.

<i>Nigerpeton</i>

Nigerpeton is an extinct genus of crocodile-like temnospondyl amphibians from the late Permian (Changhsingian) period. These temnospondyls lived in modern-day Niger, which was once part of central Pangaea, about 250 million years ago. Nigerpeton is a member of the Cochleosauridae family, a group of edopoid temnospondyl amphibians known from the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and early Permian (Cisuralian).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trimerorhachidae</span> Extinct family of amphibians

Trimerorhachidae is a family of dvinosaurian temnospondyls, including Trimerorhachis and Neldasaurus.

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

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archegosauroidea</span> Extinct superfamily of amphibians

Archegosauroidea is an extinct superfamily of Permian temnospondyls. The superfamily is assigned to the clade Stereospondylomorpha and is the sister taxon to the suborder Stereospondyli. It includes the families Actinodontidae and Archegosauridae, and possibly the genus Intasuchus, which is placed within the monotypic family Intasuchidae. They were fully aquatic animals, and were metabolically and physiologically more similar to fish than modern amphibians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olsoniformes</span> Taxon of temnospondyl amphibians (fossil)

Olsoniformes is a clade of dissorophoid temnospondyls, including 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, or Apateon pedestris. Olsoniforms share various features such as a stout and low ilium and a thin cultriform process. The earliest-branching olsoniform is Palodromeus bairdi, from the Late Carboniferous of Ohio.

<i>Anakamacops</i> Genus of amphibians (fossil)

Anakamacops is a genus of dissorophid temnospondyl from the early Middle Permian of China. It is known from the right side of a snout that was described in 1999 from the Dashankou locality of the Xidagou Formation, which is within the city of Yumen. The type species was named A. petrolicus because Yumen is an oil-producing city (petrol). More substantial material, including a partial skull and partial mandibles, was described by Liu (2018).

Bageherpeton is an extinct genus of archegosaurid temnospondyl amphibian from the Upper Permian period of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (Paleorrota). It was found in the Rio do Rasto Formation, and was named in honor of the city of Bagé near where it was found. It was described from a lower jaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derwentiinae</span> Extinct subfamily of amphibians

Derwentiinae is a subfamily of rhytidosteid temnospondyls from the Permian and Triassic periods of Australia and India. It includes the genera Arcadia, Deltasaurus, Derwentia, Indobrachyops, and Rewana. Derwentiinae was named in a 2011 study that analyzed the phylogenetic relationships of rhytidosteids. It was a replacement name for the family Derwentiidae, which was named in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melosaurinae</span> Extinct subfamily of amphibians

Melosaurinae is an extinct subfamily of temnospondyl amphibians, part of the family Archegosauridae. Most melosaurines are known from Russia, although an unnamed species has been found in Brazil. Unlike the long-skulled archegosaurids of the family Platyoposaurinae, melosaurines have shorter, broadened snouts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dvinosauroidea</span> Extinct superfamily of amphibians

Dvinosauroidea is a superfamily of dvinosaurian temnospondyls.

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

Timonya is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian represented by the type species Timonya anneae from the Early Permian of Brazil. Timonya is a basal member of a clade or evolutionary grouping of temnospondyls called Dvinosauria. It was named in 2015 on the basis of several specimens from the lower part of the Pedra de Fogo Formation in Parnaíba Basin, which is about 278 million years old. It was likely a small aquatic predator that inhabited lakes and wetland areas. During the Early Permian the center of tetrapod diversity was in the equatorial regions of the supercontinent Pangea, and Timonya was part of this fauna.

Rastosuchus is an extinct genus of stereospondyl temnospondyl within the family Rhinesuchidae. It contains one species, Rastosuchus hammeri, found in the Permian Rio do Rasto Formation of Brazil.

References

  1. A. Strapasson, F. L. Pinheiro, and M. B. Soares. 2015. On a New Stereospondylomorph Temnospondyl from the Middle—Late Permian of Southern Brazil. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60(4):843-855 [R. Butler/E. Dunne]