Brachyopidae

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Brachyopidae
Batrachosuchus

Batrachosuchus

Temporal occurrence
Lower Triassic to Central Jurassic
245 to 167.7 million years
Locations
  • Worldwide
Systematics
Chordates (chordata)
Vertebrates (vertebrata)
Land vertebrates (Tetrapoda)
Temnospondyli
Trematosauria
Brachyopidae
Scientific name
Brachyopidae
Broom , 1915

The Brachyopidae are an extinct group of aquatic, medium-sized terrestrial vertebrates from the Temnospondyli group . The taxon was introduced by Robert Broom in 1915 .

They lived mainly in the Triassic , but have also been found in the Central Jura of China and Mongolia. The late forms likely survived in regions that were geographically isolated or had cool climates so that they were not colonized by crocodiles .

Outwardly, they resembled today's giant salamanders . Her head was broad and flat, and her large eyes were set far forward. They had large fangs in their upper jaw and were probably fish-eaters. The animals spent most of their lives in the water. The legs were relatively small and were probably only used to move from one body of water to another.

Genera

The various genera are distinguished primarily on the basis of their skull anatomy.

literature

  • Michael J. Benton : Paleontology of the vertebrates. 2007, ISBN 3-89937-072-4
  • Anne Warren, Claudia Marsicano: Revision of the Brachyopidae (Temnospondyli) from the Triassic of the Sydney, Carnarvon and Tasmania Basins, Australia : Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 1752-0754, Volume 22, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 329 - 342 doi : 10.1080 / 03115519808619331

Individual evidence

  1. ^ R. Broom: On the Triassic stegocephalians Brachyops, Bothriceps andLydekkerina, gen. Nov. In: Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London , Vol. 1915, pp. 363-368, 1915. (digitized version )

Web links

Commons : Brachyopidae  - Collection of images, videos and audio files