Trematosauria

Trematosauria is one of two major groups of temnospondyl amphibians that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the other (according to Yates and Warren 2000) being the Capitosauria. The trematosaurs were a diverse and important group that included many medium-sized to large forms that were semi-aquatic to totally aquatic. The group included long-snouted forms such as the trematosauroids and short, broad-headed forms such as the metoposaurs.[1] Although most groups did not survive beyond the Triassic, one lineage, the brachyopoids, continued until the Cretaceous period. Trematosauria is defined as all stereospondyls more closely related to Trematosaurus than to Parotosuchus, a capitosaurian.[2]

Trematosauria Temporal range: Early Triassic - Middle Cretaceous, 252.3–120 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeleton of Koskinonodon perfecta in the American Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Temnospondyli
Suborder:	†Stereospondyli
Clade:	†Trematosauria Romer, 1947
Clades
†Brachyopomorpha †Metoposauroidea †Plagiosauroidea †Rhytidosteoidea †Trematosauroidea

Classification

Phylogeny

Cladogram after Yates and Warren (2000):[2][3]

Trematosauria	Trematosauroidea       Metoposauroidea       Plagiosauroidea       Rhytidosteidae       Brachyopidae     Chigutisauridae

References

1. Brusatte, S. L., Butler R. J., Mateus O., & Steyer S. J. (2015). A new species of Metoposaurus from the Late Triassic of Portugal and comments on the systematics and biogeography of metoposaurid temnospondyls. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e912988., 2015:
2. Yates, A.M.; Warren, A.A. (2000). "The phylogeny of the 'higher' temnospondyls (Vertebrata: Choanata) and its implications for the monophyly and origins of the Stereospondyli" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 128 (1): 77–121. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2000.tb00650.x.
3. Sues, H.-D.; Fraser, N.C. (2010). Triassic Life on Land: The Great Transition. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 236. ISBN 0-231-13522-X.

External links

• Temnospondyli: Trematosauria at Palaeos