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.
Deltasaurus kimberleyensis was a temnospondyl amphibian of the family Rhytidosteidae that existed during the Carnian stage of the Triassic. The fossilised remains were discovered in the Blina Shale formation in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia in 1965.
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).
Deltasaurus is an extinct genus of Carnian temnospondyl amphibian of the family Rhytidosteidae.
Brachyopoidea is a superfamily of temnospondyls that lived during the Mesozoic. It contains the families Brachyopidae and Chigutisauridae. The earliest records of brachyopids are from the Lower Triassic in Australia. The latest-surviving member of the superfamily is the chigutisaurid Koolasuchus from the Early Cretaceous of Australia.
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.
Deltasaurus pustulatus is an amphibian fossil species of the family Rhytidosteidae. The temnospondyl hunted invertebrates and fish during the late stage Triassic epoch, and somewhat resembles the only other species of the eastern Gondwanan genus Deltasaurus. The only known evidence of the species was discovered in a drill core in Southwest Australia, near Geraldton, a seemingly improbable event that produced the only known example of Triassic vertebrate fauna in the ecologically exceptional region's Kockatea Formation.
Bothriceps is an extinct genus of stereospondyl temnospondyl. It is a member of the infraorder Trematosauria and is the most basal brachyopomorph known. It is one of the only brachyopomorph that lies outside the superfamily Brachyopoidea, which includes the families Brachyopidae and Chigutisauridae. It shares several similarities to Keratobrachyops, another basal brachyopomorph, and may be closely related to or even synonymous with it.
Blinasaurus is a name of an extinct genus of prehistoric brachyopid found in Triassic geological formations of Australia. The type species is Platyceps wilkinsonii Stephens, 1887. The genus was established by John W. Cosgriff in 1969 to incorporate the type, discovered in New South Wales, and the author's new fossil species, Blinasaurus henwoodi, describing type material found in Blina Shale in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia.
Chomatobatrachus is a genus of prehistoric temnospondyl from the Triassic.
Lydekkerina is an extinct genus of stereospondyl temnospondyl. It is the type genus of the family Lydekkerinidae. Fossils have been collected from Early Triassic deposits in South Africa and Australia. The type species is L. huxleyi, first described in 1889. While most other stereospondyls were semiaquatic, Lydekkerina was exclusively terrestrial.
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.
Rotaurisaurus is an extinct genus of amphibian-grade tetrapod from the family Lapillopsidae. This genus is known only from an incomplete crushed skull and associated left jaw, together given the designation UTGD 87795. The generic name, Rotaurisaurus, is a combination of Latin words translating to "circle-eared lizard". This references the shape of its otic notches, which acquire a circular form due to being partially enclosed by the tabular bones at the back of the skull. The specific name, contundo, references the specimen's poor level of preservation, as it is derived from the Latin word for "squashed".
Platycepsion wilksoni is an extinct species of prehistoric amphibian, known from partial skeleton deposited in shale at the Gosford Quarry site of the Terrigal Formation in Australia.
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.
Vigilius is an extinct genus of brachyopid temnospondyl amphibian from the Triassic of Arizona. It is known from the single type species Vigilius wellesi.
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.
Blina Shale is a fossil bearing geological formation located in the Kimberley region of Northwest Australia. The location is rich in deposits of vertebrate material, and the site of previously unknown Triassic species. Flora and invertebrate species have also been identified in the deposits, including microplankton and microflora.
Batrachosuchus henwoodi is a fossil species of amphibian, first described as Blinasaurus henwoodi by John W. Cosgriff in 1969. The species was placed in a new generic combination when separating the genus Blinasaurus, currently subsumed as a synonym to the genus Platycepsion.
