Astreptorhachis

Astreptorhachis is an extinct genus of Late Carboniferous dissorophoid temnospondyl within the family Dissorophidae. It is known only from one species, Astreptorhachis ohioensis, that was collected from Jefferson County, Ohio by the Ohio Geological Survey in 1953 and described by Peter Vaughn in 1971.[1] The holotype and only known specimen consists of a few neural spines and is currently reposited in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. The genus name derives from the Greek words astreptos ("inflexible") and rhachis ("backbone"). The specimen was recognized as being similar to the dissorophid Platyhystrix rugosus from the southwestern United States in have greatly elongate neural spines. Astreptorhachis is differentiated from Platyhystrix by the fusion of successive neural spines and the extensively developed tubercles that cover the external surfaces. It is speculated that the elongation of the spines served to stiffen the backbone, being advantageous for terrestrial locomotion, but the purpose of the fusion of successive spines remained unclear in the absence of other material of this taxon.

Astreptorhachis
Temporal range: Late Carboniferous
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Temnospondyli
Family: †Dissorophidae
Genus: †Astreptorhachis
Vaughn, 1971
Type species
Astreptorhachis ohioensis
Vaughn, 1971

See also
  • Prehistoric amphibian
  • List of prehistoric amphibians

References
  1. Vaughn, Peter P. (1971). "A Platyhystrix-like amphibian with fused vertebrae, from the Upper Pennsylvanian of Ohio". Journal of Paleontology. 45 (3): 464–469. JSTOR 1302692.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.