''Broiliellus'' 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 dissorophoid

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 ...

within the

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 ...

Dissorophidae. ''Broiliellus'' is most closely related to the genus '' Dissorophus'', and both have been placed in the subfamily

Dissorophinae Dissorophinae is a subfamily of dissorophid temnospondyl Temnospondyli (from Greek language, Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') is a diverse order (biology), order of small to giant t ...

. ''Broiliellus'' is known from five species from the

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: the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is ''Broiliellus texensis,'' and the other species are ''Broiliellus brevis,'' ''Broiliellus olsoni, Broiliellus arroyoensis,'' and ''Broiliellus reiszi''. An additional species, ''Broiliellus novomexicanus'', which was originally named '' Aspidosaurus novomexicanus'', is now thought to fall outside the genus as a member of the subfamily

Eucacopinae Eucacopinae is an extinct clade (evolutionary grouping) of dissorophid temnospondyls. Eucacopines differ from the other main group of dissorophids, the Dissorophinae, in having more lightly built skeletons and more knobby skulls. The subfamily w ...

History of study

''Broiliellus'' was first named by American paleontologist S.W. Williston in 1914 based on two nearly complete skulls in articulation with postcranial material from the early Permian of Texas; this species was given the name ''Broiliellus texensis'', the genus name being for the German paleontologist Ferdinand Broili, and the species name being for the geographic provenance. The holotype is currently reposited in the

Field Museum The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

. A second species, ''Broiliellus brevis'', from the Archer City bonebed in Texas was named in 1964 by Canadian paleontologist Robert Carroll; the holotype of this species is currently reposited in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Two more species were named in 1967 by American paleontologist Robert DeMar, ''Broiliellus olsoni'' and ''Broiliellus arroyoensis'', both from Texas. The most recent species to be described was ''Broiliellus reiszi'' in 2013 by Canadian paleontologist Robert Holmes and colleagues.

Phylogeny

The

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analysis of Schoch (2012) found that ''Broiliellus'' was most closely related to ''Dissorophus''. However, the three species of ''Broiliellus'' did not form their own

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

, but rather a polytomy (unresolved evolutionary relationship) with ''Dissorophus''. Holmes et al. (2013) named a new species of ''Broiliellus'', ''Broiliellus reiszi''. They performed two phylogenetic analyses using the data matrix of Schoch (2012). This analysis yielded more resolved topology and a

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

''Broiliellus.'' Below is the cladogram from that analysis:

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1965407 Dissorophids Cisuralian amphibians of North America Prehistoric tetrapod genera Fossil taxa described in 1914 Taxa named by Samuel Wendell Williston Prehistoric amphibian genera