Trematosauridae

Trematosauridae are a family of large marine temnospondyl amphibians with many members. They first appeared during the Induan[1] age of the Early Triassic, and existed until around the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic,[2] although by then they were very rare. By the Middle Triassic they had become widespread throughout Laurasia and Gondwana with fossils being found in Europe, Asia, Madagascar, and Australia.

Life restoration of Trematosaurus

Trematosauridae
Temporal range: Triassic (Possible Jurassic record), 251.902–220 Ma
Fossil of Trematolestes hagdorni in the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Temnospondyli
Suborder: †Stereospondyli
Superfamily: †Trematosauroidea
Family: †Trematosauridae
Watson, 1919

They are one of the most derived families of the Trematosauroidea superfamily in that they are the only family that have fully marine lifestyles.[3] Long, slender snouts that are characteristic of the trematosaurids, with some members having rostrums resembling those of modern-day gavials. Traditionally, two subfamilies within Trematosauridae can be identified, the relatively short-nosed Trematosaurinae and the long-nosed Lonchorhynchinae.[4] A third subfamily, Tertreminae, was named in 2000 and includes broad-snouted forms like Tirraturhinus. Below is a cladogram from Steyer (2002) showing the phylogenetic relationships of trematosaurids:[5]

A possible trematosaurid has been found in the Toutunhe Formation in the Junggar Basin. If this analysis is accurate, it renders Trematosauridae one of the longest lived lineages of Temnospondyli, having lasted as recently as the late Jurassic.[6]

Trematosauridae 
 Trematosaurinae 
 
 

Tertrema

 
 
 

Lyrocephaliscus

 
 

Platystega

 
 
 
 
 

Luzocephalus

 
 
 

Trematosaurus

 
 

Trematosuchus

 
 
 
 
 Lonchorhynchinae 
 

Aphaneramma

 
 
 

Erythrobatrachus

 
 

Cosgriffius

 
 
 

Stoschiosaurus

 
 

Wantzosaurus

 
 
 
 
 

References
  1. Scheyer et al. (2014): Early Triassic Marine Biotic Recovery: The Predators' Perspective. PLoS ONE https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0088987
  2. Schoch, Rainer R., Milner, Andrew R. & Hellrung, Hannah (2002), “The last trematosaurid amphibian Hyperokynodon keuperinus revisited”. Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Ser. B Nr. 321
  3. Steyer, Sébastien J. (2002). “The First Articulated Trematosaur 'amphibian' from the Lower Triassic of Madagascar: Implications for the Phylogeny of the Group”. Palaeontoogy, 14(4): 771-793
  4. Damani, Ross (2004). “Cranial anatomy and relationships of Microposaurus casei, a temnospondyl from the MiddleTriassic of South Africa”. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 24(3): 533–541
  5. Steyer, J. S. (2002). "The first articulated trematosaur 'amphibian' from the Lower Triassic of Madagascar: implications for the phylogeny of the group". Palaeontology. 45: 771–793. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00260.
  6. (Maisch et al. 2004, p. 582)


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