Actiobates

Actiobates is an extinct genus of trematopid temnospondyl that lived during the Late Carboniferous.[2] It is known from the Garnett Quarry in Kansas.[1]

Actiobates
Temporal range: Carboniferous, 305.9–303.4 Ma[1]
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Temnospondyli
Family: †Trematopidae
Genus: †Actiobates
Eaton, 1973
Type species
Actiobates peabodyi
Eaton, 1973

History of study

Actiobates peabodyi was named in 1973 by Theodore Eaton. The genus name derives from the Greek words actios ("shore") and bates ("walker"), referring to the estuarine nature of the Garnett Quarry deposits, and the species name is for the American paleontologist Frank Peabody. The taxon is based on a single specimen represented by a partial skull and associated postcranial skeleton that is currently deposited at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum.

Anatomy

The holotype of A. peabodyi is dorsoventrally compressed, obscuring many details of the anatomy. Schoch & Milner (2014) listed only one diagnostic feature for the taxon, a quadratojugal excluded from the smooth ventral border of the otic notch.[3]

Relationships

Eaton (1973) originally classified Actiobates as a dissorophid but only because he considered the differences between dissorophids and trematopids to be insufficient to warrant their differentiation. Subsequent phylogenetic analyses have generally refrained from including Actiobates in their analysis because of its interpretation as a putative larval individual, but it is widely accepted to be a trematopid in recent studies.[4][5]

See also
  • Prehistoric amphibian
  • List of prehistoric amphibians

References
  1. "†Actiobates Eaton 1973". Paleobiology Database. Fossilworks. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  2. Eaton, Theodore H. (1973). "A Pennsylvanian dissorophid amphibian from Kansas". Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas. 14: 1–8.
  3. Schoch, Rainer R. & Milner, Andrew R. (2014). Sues, Hans-Dieter (ed.). Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie Part 3A2. Temnospondyli I. Stuttgart: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil. ISBN 9783931516260. OCLC 580976.
  4. Polley, Brendan P.; Reisz, Robert R. (2011). "A new Lower Permian trematopid (Temnospondyli: Dissorophoidea) from Richards Spur, Oklahoma". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 161 (4): 789–815. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2010.00668.x.
  5. Berman, David S.; Henrici, Amy C.; Martens, Thomas; Sumida, Stuart S. & Anderson, Jason S. (2011). "Rotaryus gothae, a new trematopid (Temnospondyli: Dissorophoidea) from the Lower Permian of central Germany". Annals of Carnegie Museum. 80 (1): 49–65. doi:10.2992/007.080.0106. ISSN 0097-4463.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.