Peltobatrachus

Peltobatrachus Temporal range: Late Permian, 260.4–251.9  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Peltobatrachus pustulatus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	† Temnospondyli
Suborder:	† Stereospondyli
Family:	† Peltobatrachidae
Genus:	† Peltobatrachus Panchen, 1959 [1]

Not to be confused with Pelobatrachus.

Peltobatrachus (from Greek pelte, meaning shield and batrakhos, meaning frog) is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the late Permian period of Tanzania. The sole species, Peltobatrachus pustulatus, is also the sole member of the family Peltobatrachidae.

Life restoration of Peltobatrachus pustulatus.

Description

Peltobatrachus was a large, slow moving animal, up to 70 centimetres (2.3 ft) in length. To protect itself against predators such as the large gorgonopsid therapsids, it had developed an armadillo-like armored plating covering its body and tail. The armor consisted of broad plates on the shoulders and hips and narrower plates on the rest of the body.

References

1. Panchen, Alec L. (1959). "A new armoured amphibian from the Upper Permian of East Africa". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 242 (691): 207–281. doi:10.1098/rstb.1959.0005.

Further reading

• Ruta, Marcello; Pisani, Davide; Lloyd, Graeme T; Benton, Michael J (2007). "A supertree of Temnospondyli: Cladogenetic patterns in the most species-rich group of early tetrapods". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 274 (1629): 3087–3095. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1250. PMC   2293949 . PMID   17925278.