''Quasicaecilia'' 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 ...

microsaur Microsauria ("small lizards") is an extinct, possibly polyphyletic order of tetrapods from the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods. It is the most diverse and species-rich group of lepospondyls. Recently, Microsauria has been considere ...

. It is known from the

Early Permian 01 or '01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * '01 (Richard Müller album), 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * 01 (Son of Dave album), ''01'' (Son of Dave album), 2000 * 01 (Urban ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. A single specimen is known, collected from the Texas Permian redbeds by

Charles Hazelius Sternberg Charles Hazelius Sternberg (June 15, 1850 – July 20, 1943) was an American fossil collector and paleontologist. He was active in both fields from 1876 to 1928, and collected fossils for Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel C. Marsh, and for the ...

in 1917. It was originally identified as a specimen of the gymnarthrid microsaur ''

Cardiocephalus ''Cardiocephalus'' is an extinct genus of lepospondyl amphibian from the Permian period. It was a member of the family Gymnarthridae Gymnarthridae is an extinct family of tuditanomorph microsaurs. Gymnarthrids are known from Europe and Nor ...

''. The skull is small, less than in length, and the otic capsule (a hollow region of bone encapsulating the inner ear) is very large in comparison to the rest of the skull. The skull of ''Quasicaecilia'' superficially resembles those of extant but unrelated

caecilian Caecilians (; ) are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. They mostly live hidden in the ground and in stream substrates, making them the least familiar order of amphibians. Caecilians are mostly distributed in the tropics of ...

s, hence the genus name. ''Quasicaecilia'' was assigned to the new

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 ...

Brachystelechidae Brachystelechidae is an extinct family of Early Permian microsaurs. The family was first named by Robert L. Carroll and Pamela Gaskill in 1978, with the only member being ''Brachystelechus fritschi''. ''Brachystelechus fritschi'' has since bee ...

in 1991 along with the genera ''

Batropetes ''Batropetes'' is an extinct genus of Brachystelechidae, brachystelechid recumbirostran "Microsauria, microsaur". ''Batropetes'' lived during the Sakmarian stage of the Early Permian. Fossils attributable to the type species ''B. fritschi'' have ...

'' and ''

Carrolla ''Carrolla'' is an extinct genus of brachystelechid 'microsaur' that lived in the Lower Permian in North America. It was named in 1986 by American paleontologists Wann Langston and Everett Olson. The type species, ''Carrolla craddocki'', is th ...

''.

References

Microsauria Cisuralian amphibians of North America Taxa named by Robert L. Carroll Fossil taxa described in 1990 {{Lepospondyli-stub

See also

References