Branchiosaurus

Branchiosaurus
	Fossil of Branchiosaurus salamandroides , in the Museo di Storia Naturale in Venice
Locations
	Czech Republic (Nyrany near Pilsen);
Systematics
	Land vertebrates (Tetrapoda)
	Temnospondyli
	Dissorophoidea
	Branchiosauridae
	Branchiosaurus
Scientific name
	Branchiosaurus
	Fritsch , 1876
species
	Branchiosaurus salamandroides;

Branchiosaurus is a small genus of the Temnospondyles , which is found in the highest carboniferous region of Central Europe. The genus is restricted to the Upper Carboniferous, the Permian finds belong to either Apateon or Melanerpeton .

description

Branchiosaurus was a 5–10 cm long, newt-like animal with a broad skull, large eye openings and slender arm and leg skeletons. The genus does not appear to have undergone any metamorphosis, as the largest known specimens still have larval characteristics. The Nyran finds come from stratified coal deposits (gas coal), in which impressions are good, but bones are mostly badly preserved. Although there are no skin outlines, Branchiosaurus probably had outer gills similar to the Permian Branchiosaurids.

Way of life

Most branchiosaurids lived their entire lives in standing or flowing waters, where they filtered the smallest life beings with their differentiated gill endicles. Branchiosaurus lived in the small, presumably very nutrient-rich Lake Nyran, which was home to many other tetrapods.

literature

Antonin Fritsch, 1876: About the fauna of the gas coal of the Pilsner and Rakonitzer basins. - Reports of the meeting of the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences in Prague 1875: 70–79.
Antonin Fritsch, 1881: Fauna of the gas coal and the limestones of the Permformations of Bohemia. Volume 1: Issue 3: 127–158. Prague: self-published.
Antonin Fritsch, 1883: Fauna of the gas coal and the limestones of the Permformations of Bohemia. Volume 1: Booklet 4: 1–182. Prague: self-published.
Jürgen Boy, 1987: Studies about the Branchiosauridae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli; Ober-Karbon-Unter-Perm) 2. Systematic overview. New Yearbook of Geology and Paleontology Papers 174: 75–104.
Ralf Werneburg, 2012: Dissorophoid amphibians from the Asturian (Upper Carboniferous) of Nyrany in Bohemia (Czech Republic) - the key to understanding the early “branchiosaurs”. Publications of the Natural History Museum Schleusingen 27: 3–50.
Rainer Schoch and Andrew Milner, 2014: Temnospondyli. In: Sues, HD (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology, Volume 3A2. Arrow: Munich.

Individual evidence

↑ Schoch, RR & Milner, AR (2008): The intrarelationships and evolutionary history of the temnospondyl family Branchiosauridae. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 6: 409-431.
↑ Schoch, RR & Milner, AR (2014): Temnospondyli. In: Sues, HD (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology, Volume 3A2. Arrow: Munich.
↑ Werneburg, R. (2012): Dissorophoid amphibians from the Asturian (Upper Carboniferous) of Nyrany in Bohemia (Czech Republic) - the key to understanding the early branchiosaurs ”. Publications of the Natural History Museum Schleusingen 27: 3–50.
↑ Boy, JA (1972b): The Branchiosaurier (Amphibia) of the Saar-Palatinate Rotliegend (Perm, SW Germany). Treatises of the Hessian State Office for Soil Research 65: 1–137.
^ Witzmann, F. (2004): The external gills of Palaeozoic amphibians. New Yearbook of Geology and Apalaeontology Papers 232: 375–401.
↑ Boy, JA (1987): Studies on the Branchiosauridae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli; Ober-Karbon-Unter-Perm) 2. Systematic overview. New Yearbook of Geology and Paleontology Papers 174: 75–104.
↑ Milner, AR (1980): The tetrapod assemblage from Nýrany, Czechoslovakia. In: AL Panchen (ed.), The Terrestrial Environment and the Origin of Land Vertebrates. London and New York, Academic Press, pp. 439-496.

[1] Schoch, RR & Milner, AR (2008): The intrarelationships and evolutionary history of the temnospondyl family Branchiosauridae. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 6: 409-431.

[2] Schoch, RR & Milner, AR (2014): Temnospondyli. In: Sues, HD (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology, Volume 3A2. Arrow: Munich.

[3] Werneburg, R. (2012): Dissorophoid amphibians from the Asturian (Upper Carboniferous) of Nyrany in Bohemia (Czech Republic) - the key to understanding the early branchiosaurs ”. Publications of the Natural History Museum Schleusingen 27: 3–50.

[4] Boy, JA (1972b): The Branchiosaurier (Amphibia) of the Saar-Palatinate Rotliegend (Perm, SW Germany). Treatises of the Hessian State Office for Soil Research 65: 1–137.

[5] Witzmann, F. (2004): The external gills of Palaeozoic amphibians. New Yearbook of Geology and Apalaeontology Papers 232: 375–401.

[6] Boy, JA (1987): Studies on the Branchiosauridae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli; Ober-Karbon-Unter-Perm) 2. Systematic overview. New Yearbook of Geology and Paleontology Papers 174: 75–104.

[7] Milner, AR (1980): The tetrapod assemblage from Nýrany, Czechoslovakia. In: AL Panchen (ed.), The Terrestrial Environment and the Origin of Land Vertebrates. London and New York, Academic Press, pp. 439-496.