Brachyopidae is an extinct

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

labyrintodonts. They evolved in the early

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

and were mostly aquatic. A fragmentary find from

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

is estimated to have been long, the largest

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

ever known to have lived besides ''

Prionosuchus ''Prionosuchus'' is an extinct genus of large temnospondyl. A single species ''P. plummeri'', is recognized from the Early Permian (some time between 299 and 272 million years ago). Its fossils have been found in what is now northeastern Brazil. ...

''.Steyer, J.S. & Damiani, R. (2005): A giant brachyopoid temnospondyl from the Upper Triassic or Lower Jurassic of Lesotho. ''Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France'', no. 3: pp 243-248.
abstract
/ref> Brachyopids were the only group of temnospondyls to survive into the Jurassic aside from their sister family

Chigutisauridae Chigutisauridae is an extinct family of large temnospondyl amphibians. The only genera recognized as belonging to Chigutisauridae at the current time are all from Gondwana. Chigutisaurids first appeared during the Early Triassic in Australia. Du ...

. With records of the family from the Jurassic of Asia.

List of genera

*'' Banksiops'' *''

Batrachosaurus ''Batrachosaurus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric brachyopoid amphibian that lived in Germany during the Middle Triassic (Ladinian). The genus was named by Joseph Fitzinger in 1837 and the type species, ''B. jaegeri'', was named three years ...

'' *'' Batrachosuchoides'' *''

Batrachosuchus ''Batrachosuchus'' is a genus of temnospondyl amphibian that existed from the Early to Middle Triassic of Southern Africa (Ntawere Formation of Zambia and Burgersdorp Formation of South Africa) and the Blina Shale of Australia. Species Thr ...

'' *'' Brachyops'' *''

Gobiops ''Gobiops'' is an extinct genus of temnospondyl from the Jurassic of Mongolia, China, and possibly Kyrgyzstan. The genus is represented by a single species, ''Gobiops desertus''. It was named in 1991 from the Late Jurassic Shar Teeg Beds of Mong ...

'' *''

Notobrachyops ''Notobrachyops'' is a genus of brachyopid temnospondyl amphibian. It is known from a skull roof impression found in the Ashfield Shale (Late Triassic) of Mortdale, New South Wales, Australia. The Ashfield Shale has also yielded a shark species, ...

'' *''

Platycepsion ''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. Taxonomy The species is assigned to a currently monoty ...

'' *'' Sinobrachyops'' *'' Vanastega'' *''

Xenobrachyops ''Xenobrachyops'' is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Triassic of Australia, describing a single species, ''Xenobrachyops allos''. It is estimated to have been around fifty centimetres long and its diet would have consisted ...

References

External links

Brachyopidae at Palaeos.
Brachyopids Amphibian families {{Temnospondyli-stub