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Nectridean
Nectridea is the name of an extinct order of lepospondyl tetrapods from the Carboniferous and Permian periods, including animals such as ''Diplocaulus''. In appearance, they would have resembled modern newts or aquatic salamanders, although they are not close relatives of modern amphibians. They were characterized by long, flattened tails to aid in swimming, as well as numerous features of the vertebrae. Description Nectrideans are a diverse group of tetrapods, including the aquatic Urocordylidae, the presumably terrestrial Scincosauridae, and the bizarre horned members of Diplocaulidae (also known as Keraterpetonidae), which includes the "boomerang-headed" ''Diplocaulus'', one of the most famous genera of prehistoric amphibians (in the traditional sense of the word). By the time the earliest known nectrideans appeared in the Late Carboniferous fossil record, they had already diversified into these families, indicating that basal nectrideans are unknown. These different fami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diplocaulus
''Diplocaulus'' (meaning "double caul") is an extinct genus of lepospondyl amphibians which lived from the Late Carboniferous to the Late Permian of North America and Africa. ''Diplocaulus'' is by far the largest and best-known of the lepospondyls, characterized by a distinctive boomerang-shaped skull. Remains attributed to ''Diplocaulus'' have been found from the Late Permian of Morocco and represent the youngest-known occurrence of a lepospondyl. Description ''Diplocaulus'' had a stocky, salamander-like body, but was relatively large, reaching up to in length. Although a complete tail is unknown for the genus, a nearly complete articulated skeleton described in 1917 preserved a row of tail vertebrae near the head. This was construed as circumstantial evidence for a long, thin tail capable of reaching the head if the animal was curled up. Most studies since this discovery have argued that Anguilliform, anguiliform (eel-like) tail movement was the main force of locomotion uti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scapulocoracoid
The scapulocoracoid is the unit of the pectoral girdle that contains the coracoid and scapula. The coracoid itself is a beak-shaped bone that is commonly found in most vertebrates with a few exceptions. The scapula is commonly known as the ''shoulder blade''. The humerus is linked to the body via the scapula, and the clavicle is connected to the sternum via the scapula as well. Theria Theria (; Greek: , wild beast) is a subclass of mammals amongst the Theriiformes. Theria includes the eutherians (including the placental mammals) and the metatherians (including the marsupials) but excludes the egg-laying monotremes. Ch ...n mammals lack a scapulocoracoid. References * Vertebrates Comparative Anatomy, Function, Evolution by Kenneth V. Kardong. Page 325. Vertebrate anatomy {{Vertebrate anatomy-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odonterpeton Triangulare
''Odonterpeton'' is an extinct genus of microsaur It is known from a single specimen found in Late Carboniferous coal measures in Ohio. It is now considered to be a member of the "microsaur" clade Recumbirostra, and the sister species of '' Joermungandr'' from Mazon Creek. See also * Prehistoric amphibian * List of prehistoric amphibians This list of prehistoric amphibians is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be amphibians, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted g ... References Microsauria Fossil taxa described in 1909 Prehistoric amphibian genera {{Lepospondyli-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyloplesion Longicostatum
''Hyloplesion'' is an extinct genus of microbrachomorph microsaur. It is the type and only genus within the family Hyloplesiontidae. Fossils have been found from the Czech Republic near the towns of Plzeň, Nýřany, and Třemošná, and date back to the Middle Pennsylvanian. The type species is ''H. longicostatum'', named in 1883. Two species belonging to different genera, ''Seeleya pusilla'' and ''Orthocosta microscopica'', have been synonymized with ''H. longicostatum'' and are thought to represent very immature individuals. Description ''Hyloplesion'' was about as large as a medium-sized salamander, with the length of known specimens ranging from 17-77mm. The skull is triangular in shape. Unlike many other microsaurs, the palate of ''Hyloplesion'' contains large vacuities, or openings. The fifth maxillary tooth is enlarged and resembles a canine. The skull of ''Hyloplesion'' superficially resembles that of the unrelated romeriid reptile '' Romeria'' in lateral view due t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microbrachis Pelikani
''Microbrachis'' is an extinct genus of lepospondyl amphibian from the Carboniferous Kladno Formation of the Czech Republic. Description ''Microbrachis'' was an elongated, salamander-like creature, about long, with over 40 vertebrae instead of the average 15–26 in its living relatives. It had minute limbs, and probably swam using fish-like lateral body movements. ''Microbrachis'' probably fed on fresh water plankton such as shrimp. ''Microbrachis'' was pedomorphic, retaining its larval gills in adulthood. Similar traits are found in the extant axolotl The axolotl (; from nci, āxōlōtl ), ''Ambystoma mexicanum'', is a paedomorphic salamander closely related to the tiger salamander. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instea .... References Further reading * Andrew R. Milner, "The Tetrapod Assemblage from Nýrany, Czechoslovakia", in Systematics Association Special Volume No.15, "The Terrestri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuditanomorpha
Tuditanomorpha is a suborder of microsaur lepospondyls. Tuditanomorphs lived from the Late Carboniferous to the Early Permian and are known from North America and Europe. Tuditanomorphs have a similar pattern of bones in the skull roof. Tuditanomorphs display considerable variability, especially in body size, proportions, dentition, and presacral vertebral count. Currently there are seven families of tuditanomorphs, with two being monotypic. Tuditanids, gymnarthrids, and pantylids first appear in the Lower Pennsylvanian. Goniorhynchidae, Hapsidopareiontidae, Ostodolepidae, and Trihecatontidae appear in the Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian. Classification Suborder Tuditanomorpha *Family Goniorhynchidae **''Rhynchonkos'' *Family Gymnarthridae **''Cardiocephalus'' **''Elfridia'' **''Euryodus'' **''Leiocephalikon'' **''Pariotichus'' **''Sparodus'' *Family Hapsidopareiontidae **''Hapsidopareion'' **''Llistrofus'' **''Ricnodon'' **''Saxonerpeton'' *Family Ostodolepidae **' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batropetes Fritschi
''Batropetes'' is an extinct genus of brachystelechid recumbirostran "microsaur". ''Batropetes'' lived during the Sakmarian stage of the Early Permian. Fossils attributable to the type species ''B. fritschi'' have been collected from the town of Freital in Saxony, Germany, near the city of Dresden. Additional material has been found from the Saar-Nahe Basin in southwestern Germany and has been assigned to three additional species: ''B. niederkirchensis'', ''B. palatinus'', and ''B. appelensis''. Description ''Batropetes'' is small and short-bodied for a microsaur. Its average total body length was about . The orbits are large and the skull is short. ''Batropetes'' possesses scales on its underside that are similar to those of reptiles. ''Batropetes'' is distinguished from ''Carrolla'', another brachystelechid microsaur, by the presence of three cusps on the premaxillary and anterior dentary teeth. In ''Carrolla'', there are only two cusps. Additional diagnostic features see ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paraphyly
In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In contrast, a monophyletic group (a clade) includes a common ancestor and ''all'' of its descendants. The terms are commonly used in phylogenetics (a subfield of biology) and in the tree model of historical linguistics. Paraphyletic groups are identified by a combination of synapomorphies and symplesiomorphies. If many subgroups are missing from the named group, it is said to be polyparaphyletic. The term was coined by Willi Hennig to apply to well-known taxa like Reptilia ( reptiles) which, as commonly named and traditionally defined, is paraphyletic with respect to mammals and birds. Reptilia contains the last common ancestor of reptiles and all descendants of that ancestor, including all extant reptiles as well as the extinct synapsids, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aistopoda
Aistopoda (Greek for " avingnot-visible feet") is an order of highly specialised snake-like stegocephalians known from the Carboniferous and Early Permian of Europe and North America, ranging from tiny forms only , to nearly in length. They first appear in the fossil record in the Mississippian period and continue through to the Early Permian. The skull is small but very specialised, with large orbits, and large fenestrae. The primitive form '' Ophiderpeton'' has a pattern of dermal bones in the skull similar in respects to the temnospondyls. But in the advanced genus ''Phlegethontia'' the skull is very light and open, reduced to a series of struts supporting the braincase against the lower jaw, just as in snakes, and it is possible that the aistopods filled the same ecological niches in the Paleozoic that snakes do today. They had an extremely elongated body, with up to 230 vertebrae. The vertebrae were holospondylous, having only a single ossification per segment. They l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lepospondyli
Lepospondyli is a diverse taxon of early tetrapods. With the exception of one late-surviving lepospondyl from the Late Permian of Morocco (''Diplocaulus minumus''), lepospondyls lived from the Early Carboniferous ( Mississippian) to the Early Permian and were geographically restricted to what is now Europe and North America. Five major groups of lepospondyls are known: Adelospondyli; Aïstopoda; Lysorophia; Microsauria; and Nectridea. Lepospondyls have a diverse range of body forms and include species with newt-like, eel- or snake-like, and lizard-like forms. Various species were aquatic, semiaquatic, or terrestrial. None were large (the biggest genus, the diplocaulid ''Diplocaulus'', reached a meter in length, but most were much smaller), and they are assumed to have lived in specialized ecological niches not taken by the more numerous temnospondyl amphibians that coexisted with them in the Paleozoic. Lepospondyli was named in 1888 by Karl Alfred von Zittel, who coined the name t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colosteidae
Colosteidae is a family of stegocephalians (tetrapod-like vertebrates) that lived in the Carboniferous period. They possessed a variety of characteristics from different tetrapod or stem-tetrapod groups, which made them historically difficult to classify. They are now considered to be part of a lineage intermediate between the earliest Devonian terrestrial vertebrates (such as '' Ichthyostega''), and the different groups ancestral to all modern tetrapods, such as temnospondyls (probably ancestral to modern amphibians) and reptiliomorphs (ancestral to amniotes such as mammals, reptiles, and birds). Description Colosteids had elongated bodies, with an estimated 40 vertebrae, not including the tail. The skull is flat and composed of many separate bones, like that of other stegocephalians. Colosteids lacked otic notches at the back of the head, unlike temnospondyls and other "labyrinthodont "Labyrinthodontia" (Greek, 'maze-toothed') is an informal grouping of extinct predatory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ichthyostega
''Ichthyostega'' (from el, ἰχθῦς , 'fish' and el, στέγη , 'roof') is an extinct genus of limbed tetrapodomorphs from the Late Devonian of Greenland. It was among the earliest four-limbed vertebrates in the fossil record, and was one of the first with weight-bearing adaptations for terrestrial locomotion. ''Ichthyostega'' possessed lungs and limbs that helped it navigate through shallow water in swamps. Although ''Ichthyostega'' is often labelled a 'tetrapod' due to the possession of limbs and fingers, it evolved long before true crown group tetrapods, and could more accurately be referred to as a stegocephalian or stem tetrapod. Likewise, while undoubtedly of amphibian build and habit, it is not considered a true member of the group in the narrow sense, as the first modern amphibians (members of the group Lissamphibia) appeared in the Triassic Period. Until finds of other early stegocephalians and closely related fishes in the late 20th century, ''Ichthyostega'' st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
