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- Title
The cranial morphology of the temnospondyl A ustralerpeton cosgriffi ( Tetrapoda: Stereospondyli) from the Middle- Late Permian of Paraná Basin and the phylogenetic relationships of Rhinesuchidae.
- Authors
Eltink, Estevan; Dias, Eliseu V.; Dias-da-Silva, Sérgio; Schultz, Cesar L.; Langer, Max C.
- Abstract
Stereospondyls are a diverse and morphologically distinctive clade of basal tetrapods that rapidly reached a global distribution and high abundance during the Early Triassic. Yet, the first stereospondyls appeared in the Middle- Late Permian of Gondwana, mostly represented by Rhinesuchidae. A ustralerpeton cosgriffi is a long-snouted representative of the group and one of the most complete temnospondyls known from the Permian of South America. The elements attributed to Au . cosgriffi were recovered from the Middle- Late Permian deposits of the Rio do Rasto Formation ( Paraná Basin), in the Serra do Cadeado area of Brazil. Here, we review the cranial anatomy of the species, providing a comparative redescription, new anatomical data and previously unrecognized characters. A ustralerpeton cosgriffi is nested within Rhinesuchidae based on the anatomy of the tympanic cavity, but its long-snouted condition is unique amongst rhinesuchids. Based on the recovered information and new morphological data, the systematic position of Au . cosgriffi was assessed using a new matrix of 221 characters; of which 196 were selected from previous studies and the remaining are newly proposed. The results show Rhinesuchidae divided into Rhinesuchinae and Australerpetinae. A unique tympanic cavity formed by a well posteroventrally projected tabular horn, stapedial groove, well-developed oblique crest on the pterygoid, and a dorsal pterygoid crest (new term) characterizes the ear region of Rhinesuchidae. A ustralerpeton cosgriffi is the only undisputed Rhinesuchidae record outside southern Africa and the first long-snouted Stereospondyli, and thus is useful in helping to understand the diversification of the stereospondyls during the Middle/ Late Permian of Gondwana.
- Subjects
TEMNOSPONDYLI; GEOMORPHOLOGY; TETRAPODS; PERMIAN Period; PHYLOGENY; GONDWANA (Continent)
- Publication
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2016, Vol 176, Issue 4, p835
- ISSN
0024-4082
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/zoj.12339