#stereospondylomorph
LightNews LightNews
batmanelvisigodo.bsky.social
#temnovember2024 day 12: Sclerocephalus
For day 12 of #temnonovember we have a classic, #Sclerocephalus, a basal #stereospondylomorph from Europe known from several species and a large amount of specimens
#paleoart #sciart #amphibian #temnospondyl #Carboniferous #permian
November 12, 2024 at 8:18 PM
koskinonodon.bsky.social
Werneburg described several new specimens, some nearly complete and fully articulated, of the early Permian stereospondylomorph Glanochthon lellbachae from Germany, expanding the osteology and ontogeny of this taxon: www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Photograph and illustration of a specimen of the stereospondylomorph Glanochthon lellbachae from the early Permian of Germany. The skeleton is nearly complete and articulated, though it is flattened dorsoventrally such that elements normally found ventral to others like the jaws and pectoral girdle are splayed to the side. The impression of the tail is fully preserved, giving a clear indication of the full length of the tail relative to the torso. Photograph and illustration of an articulated skeleton of the early Permian stereospondylomorph Glanochthon lellbachae from Germany. The skeleton is slightly disturbed in a sense that some elements have slightly separated from each other but retain the clear association with the overall individual. The skull is partially disarticulated with the palate facing upwards in the block.
January 2, 2026 at 6:46 PM
koskinonodon.bsky.social
Werneburg & Witzmann revised the Russian eryopid Clamorosaurus, the youngest member of this clade, and also revised Syndyodosuchus, historically a stereospondylomorph, and reidentified it as an eryopid. doi.org/10.3897/fr.2...
The holotype skull of the early Permian eryopid Clamorosaurus nocturnus from Russia. The skull is incomplete anteriorly and flattened, with associated postcrania skrewn behind it. Typical eryopid features like a tall suborbital bar and broad posterior skull are discernible. The holotype skull of the early Permian eryopid Clamorosaurus borealis from Russia. The skull is incomplete around the margins and also flattened, but the well-developed cranial ridges, broad snout, and small orbits typical of eryopids are discernible. The holotype skull of the early Permian eryopid Syndyodosuchus tetricus from Russia. The skull is incomplete anteriorly and flattened, with some distortion that gives it the appearance of a slender-snouted temnospondyl that likely contributed to its previous interpretation as a stereospondylomorph. Eryopid temnospondyls of the world in geological time. Eryopids are known from the latest Carboniferous in Germany, France, and North America, with early Permian records from those regions as well as in Czechia and Poland. The Russian Clamorosaurus and Syndyodosuchus are the youngest records from just prior to the Cisuralian-Guadalupian boundary.
January 3, 2025 at 3:24 PM
johnrhutchinson.bsky.social
Do you like temnospondyl carpi and tarsi? New paper delves deep into their mysteries:
peerj.com/articles/161...
Morphology and ontogeny of carpus and tarsus in stereospondylomorph temnospondyls
Skeletal development is well known in temnospondyls, the most diverse group of Paleozoic and Mesozoic amphibians. However, the elements of carpus and tarsus (i.e., the mesopodium) were always the last...
peerj.com
October 26, 2023 at 7:19 AM
koskinonodon.bsky.social
Werneburg & Schoch revised and validated the early Permian stereo-morph Memonomenos dyscriton from Czechia (sometimes syn. w/ Archegosaurus) and named a new species, M. amelangi. (I would like to hear someone pronounce the genus in a talk). www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Photographs of the holotype skull of the early Permian stereospondylomorph Memonomenos amelangi from Germany. The holotype is a nearly complete skull that is severely flattened (part b, occipital view) but preserves the typical temnospondyl ornamentation. The skull is much longer than wide, with straight to slightly concave lateral margins and a broad blunted snout. The orbits are situated in the posterior half of the skull. Photographs of different specimens of Memonomenos dyscriton from the Czech Republic. All specimens are flattened and preserved as low-contrast dark fossil material. The holotype (part a) is a nearly complete skull of an adult with associated lower jaws and postcrania. Larval specimens (part b and c) comprise partial skeletons; the skull is proportionately much shorter than in the adult, with less-developed postcrania.
January 3, 2025 at 3:24 PM
koskinonodon.bsky.social
The yearly round-up of #temnospondyl research from the past year for the first #FossilFriday post of the year: once again, a lot of stuff on European taxa but also a great mix of researchers involved in all sorts of interesting work!

🧵👇 (1/25ish?)

#temnospondyls #fossils #histology #anatomy
Photographs and interpretive line drawings of various skulls of Plagiosternum granulosum from the Late Triassic of Germany. The skull is much wider than long, as is typical for plagiosaurids, and broadly parabolic. The orbits are greatly enlarged, taking up more than half the length of the skull, with a very narrow interorbital region; similarly large interpterygoid vacuities occur on the palate. Figure from Schoch et al. (2025). Photograph and illustration of a specimen of the stereospondylomorph Glanochthon lellbachae from the early Permian of Germany. The skeleton is nearly complete and articulated, though it is flattened dorsoventrally such that elements normally found ventral to others like the jaws and pectoral girdle are splayed to the side. The impression of the tail is fully preserved, giving a clear indication of the full length of the tail relative to the torso. Figure from Werneburg (2025) Photograph and illustration of the skull of the new neotype of the early Permian dissorophid Aspidosaurus chiton, from Texas, in dorsal view. The skull is an orange-brown color, longer than wide, and largely undistorted. Figure from Gee et al. (2025). Comparison of the four predominant tissue types found in the pectoral girdle samples of the Late Triassic metoposaurid Metoposaurus krasiejowensis from Poland, imaged under circular cross-polarized light: (a) interwoven structural fibered matrix; (b) coarse PFB; (c) fine PFB; (d) LB fibered matrix. Figure from Kalita et al. (2025).
January 2, 2026 at 6:46 PM
koskinonodon.bsky.social
More size charts, these showing the clades with the largest (65+ cm skull length) and smallest (<1 cm skull length) published specimens
Plot showing the largest reported specimens by clade (>65 cm midline skull length). Most of these are capitosaurs and almost all are stereospondyls, but the stereospondylomorph Prionosuchus is the largest (estimated, specimen incomplete) at 160 cm. Plot showing the smallest reported specimens by clade (<1 cm midline skull length). The majority are dissorophoids and almost all belong to taxa that would not have reached sizes much larger than modern salamanders as adults.
November 22, 2024 at 2:47 PM