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Loxommatidae
Baphetidae is an extinct family of early tetrapods. Baphetids were large labyrinthodont predators of the Late Carboniferous period (Namurian through Westphalian) of Europe. Fragmentary remains from the Early Carboniferous of Canada have been tentatively assigned to the group. The phylogenetic relationships of baphetids is uncertain; while many studies have placed the group as a close relative of Amniota, other analyses have found Baphetidae to be a more basal clade of early stem tetrapods. Baphetids were among the first of the Carboniferous fossil tetrapods to be found and were originally described in 1850 by John William Dawson. The baphetids have been referred to the family Loxommatidae, but this group was later shown to be a junior synonym of Baphetidae, which was named earlier in 1865. Baphetids are known mainly from skulls; very little postcranial material has been found. Palaeobiology The presence of lateral lines and the long rows of needle-like teeth show that most were f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labyrinthodontia
"Labyrinthodontia" (Greek, 'maze-toothed') is an informal grouping of extinct predatory amphibians which were major components of ecosystems in the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras (about 390 to 150 million years ago). Traditionally considered a subclass of the class Amphibia, modern classification systems recognize that labyrinthodonts are not a formal natural group (clade) exclusive of other tetrapods. Instead, they consistute an evolutionary grade (a paraphyletic group), ancestral to living tetrapods such as lissamphibians (modern amphibians) and amniotes (reptiles, mammals, and kin). "Labyrinthodont"-grade vertebrates evolved from lobe-finned fishes in the Devonian, though a formal boundary between fish and amphibian is difficult to define at this point in time. "Labyrinthodont" generally refers to extinct four-limbed tetrapods with a large body size and a crocodile-like lifestyle. The name describes the pattern of infolding of the dentin and enamel of the teeth, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spathicephalus
''Spathicephalus'' is an extinct genus of stem tetrapods (early four-limbed vertebrates) that lived during the middle of the Carboniferous Period. The genus includes two species: the type species ''S. mirus'' from Scotland, which is known from two mostly complete skulls and other cranial material, and the species ''S. pereger'' from Nova Scotia, which is known from a single fragment of the skull table. Based on the ''S. mirus'' material, the appearance of ''Spathicephalus'' is unlike that of any other early tetrapod, with a flattened, square-shaped skull and jaws lined with hundreds of very small chisel-like teeth. However, ''Spathicephalus'' shares several anatomical features with a family of stem tetrapods called Baphetidae, leading most paleontologists who have studied the genus to place it within a larger group called Baphetoidea, often as part of its own monotypic family Spathicephalidae. ''Spathicephalus'' is thought to have fed on aquatic invertebrates through a combinati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalocephalus
''Megalocephalus'' (meaning "big head") is an extinct genus of baphetid animal from the late Carboniferous ( Westphalian A-C) of the British Isles and the United States (Ohio). It contains two species, ''M. pachycephalus'' and ''M. lineolatus''. History ''Megalocephalus pachycephalus'' ''Megalocephalus pachycephalus'' is one of the most common large amphibians from the Carboniferous of Britain, and is known from several sites in England, Scotland, and Ireland. The first known fossils of the genus were cranial fragments which were misattributed to ''Rhizodus'' jaw bones upon their discovery in 1864. These fragments, and many subsequent discoveries, were recovered from a quarry near Newsham, Northumberland. Other ''Megalocephalus'' fossils found in the 1860s had been referred to other large amphibians, namely ''Pteroplax and'' ''Anthracosaurus''. Two well-preserved skulls and associated jaw bones were found in Newsham in 1870 and 1871, though these were also mistakenly refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temnospondyli
Temnospondyli (from Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') 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 bon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loxomma
''Loxomma'' (meaning “slanting eyes”) is an extinct genus of Loxommatinae and one of the first Carboniferous tetrapods. They were first described in 1862 and further described in 1870 when two more craniums were found. It is mostly associated with the area of the United Kingdom. They share features with modern reptiles as well as with fish. They had 4 paddle-like limbs that they used to swim in lakes, but they breathed air. Their diet consisted mostly of live fish. They are of the family Baphetidae which are distinguished by their keyhole shaped orbits, while ''Loxomma'' themselves are distinguished by the unique texture on their skulls, said to be honeycomb-like. History and discovery The genus ''Loxomma'' was discovered and named by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1862 via a near perfect cranium, a vertebra and a rib in the Lanarkshire coal-field of Scotland. The family Baphetidae were among the first Carboniferous tetrapods to be found and were first described by William Da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batrachosauria
Batrachosauria ("Frog Saurians") is a name given either to very reptile-like amphibians dating from the Carboniferous and Permian periods, or to amniotes and those amphibians very closely related to them. In current cladistic schemes, Batrachosauria is the sister clade to the Anthracosauroidea Characteristics From the Palaeos website: * Intercentrum reduced * large canine-like maxillary tooth See also * Reptiliomorpha Reptiliomorpha (meaning reptile-shaped; in PhyloCode known as ''Pan-Amniota'') is a clade containing the amniotes and those tetrapods that share a more recent common ancestor with amniotes than with living amphibians (lissamphibians). It was def ... References External links * PalaeosBatrachosauria Reptiliomorphs {{paleo-amphibian-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Lydekker
Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker, a barrister-at-law with Dutch ancestry. The family moved to Harpenden Lodge soon after Richard's birth. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a first-class in the Natural Science tripos (1872). In 1874 he joined the Geological Survey of India and made studies of the vertebrate palaeontology of northern India (especially Kashmir). He remained in this post until the death of his father in 1881. His main work in India was on the Siwalik palaeofauna; it was published in ''Palaeontologia Indica''. He was responsible for the cataloguing of the fossil mammals, reptiles, and birds in the Natural History Museum (10 vols., 1891). He named a variety of taxa including the golden-bellied mangabey; as a taxon authority he is nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crassigyrinus
''Crassigyrinus'' (from la, crassus, 'thick' and el, γυρίνος el, gyrínos, 'tadpole') is an extinct genus of carnivorous stem tetrapod from the Early Carboniferous Limestone Coal Group of Scotland and possibly Greer, West Virginia. The type specimen was originally described as ''Macromerium scoticum'' and lacked a complete skull. With subsequent discoveries, ''Crassigyrinus'' is now known from three skulls, one of which is in articulation with a fairly complete skeleton, and two incomplete lower jaws. ''Crassigyrinus'' grew up to 2 meters in length, coupled with tiny limbs and unusually large jaws. ''Crassigyrinus'' is taxonomically enigmatic, having confused paleontologists for decades with its apparent fish-like and tetrapod features. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Embolomeri
Embolomeri is an order of tetrapods or stem-tetrapods, possibly members of Reptiliomorpha. Embolomeres first evolved in the Early Carboniferous ( Mississippian) Period and were the largest and most successful predatory tetrapods of the Late Carboniferous ( Pennsylvanian) Period. They were specialized semiaquatic predators with long bodies for eel-like undulatory swimming. Embolomeres are characterized by their vertebral centra, which are formed by two cylindrical segments, the pleurocentrum at the rear and intercentrum at the front. These segments are equal in size. Most other tetrapods have pleurocentra and intercentra which are drastically different in size and shape. Embolomeres were among the earliest large carnivorous tetrapods, with members such as the crocodilian-like ''Proterogyrinus'' appearing in the Visean stage of the Carboniferous. They declined in diversity during the Permian period, though at least one representative ('' Archeria)'' was common in the Early Permian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eucritta
''Eucritta'' (meaning "true creature") is an extinct genus of stem-tetrapod from the Viséan epoch in the Carboniferous period of Scotland. The name of the type and only species, ''E. melanolimnetes'' ("true creature from the black lagoon") is a homage to the 1954 horror film ''Creature from the Black Lagoon''. ''Eucritta'' possessed many features in common with other generalized Carboniferous tetrapods and tetrapod relatives. A large amount of these features were plesiomorphic, meaning that they resembled the "primitive" condition that was acquired when four-limbed vertebrates ("amphibians", in the broad sense) first appeared. With a short, wide skull, large eyes, and strongly-built limbs, ''Eucritta'' proportionally resembled ''Balanerpeton'', a contemporary terrestrial tetrapod which was one of the earliest members of Temnospondyli, a successful tetrapod group which may have produced modern amphibians. However, ''Eucritta'' lacked key temnospondyl adaptations, nor certain adap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladistics
Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived characteristics ( synapomorphies'')'' that are not present in more distant groups and ancestors. However, from an empirical perspective, common ancestors are inferences based on a cladistic hypothesis of relationships of taxa whose character states can be observed. Theoretically, a last common ancestor and all its descendants constitute a (minimal) clade. Importantly, all descendants stay in their overarching ancestral clade. For example, if the terms ''worms'' or ''fishes'' were used within a ''strict'' cladistic framework, these terms would include humans. Many of these terms are normally used paraphyletically, outside of cladistics, e.g. as a 'grade', which are fruitless to precisely delineate, especially when including extinct species. R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
