''Australerpeton'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of stereospondylomorph

temnospondyl Temnospondyli (from Greek language, Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') is a diverse order (biology), order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered Labyrinthodontia, primitive amphi ...

currently believed to belong to the family

Rhinesuchidae Rhinesuchidae is a family of tetrapods that lived primarily in the Permian period. They belonged to the broad group Temnospondyli, a successful and diverse collection of semiaquatic tetrapods which modern amphibians are probably descended from. ...

. 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 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.Florian Witzm ...

.Schoch, R. R. and Milner, A. R. (2000). ''Stereospondyli. Stem-stereospondyli, Rhinesuchidae, Rhytidostea, Trematosauroidea, Capitosauroidea''. Handbuch der paläoherpetologie Part 3B. 203p A study by Dias & Schultz (2003) reassigned ''Australerpeton'' to the family Rhinesuchidae within the suborder

Stereospondyli 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 ecologi ...

based on an earlier evaluation of the family. In this study, the close similarities between ''Australerpeton'' and archegosaurids were attributed to

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

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 The Rio do Rasto Formation is a Late Permian sedimentary geological formation in the South Region of Brazil. The official name is Rio do Rasto, although in some publications it appears as ''Rio do Rastro''. Geography It is found mainly in the B ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

References

Stereospondyls Prehistoric amphibian genera Permian temnospondyls of South America Permian Brazil Fossils of Brazil Paraná Basin Lopingian life Fossil taxa described in 1998 Taxa named by Mário Costa Barberena {{permian-animal-stub