Colosteidae

Colosteidae
	Greererpeton
Temporal occurrence
	Tournaisium to Moskovium (carbon)
	358.9 to 307 million years
Locations
	North America (West Virginia, Ohio); Scotland;
Systematics
	Chordates (chordata)
	Jaw mouths (Gnathostomata)
	Vertebrates (vertebrata)
	Land vertebrates (Tetrapoda)
	Colosteidae
Scientific name
	Colosteidae
	Cope , 1875

The Colosteidae are a group of extinct, formerly terrestrial vertebrates from the Carboniferous . Since open grooves for the lateral line canals were well developed on the skull , it is concluded that a secondary aquatic way of life as a fish eater is assumed.

features

They had a greatly elongated body, broad tail, and short limbs. They had up to 40 vertebrae in their torso and neck . They reached a length of up to 1.5 meters, the tail made up 30 to 50% of the length. Fin rays were no longer present. The front limbs had four toes and the hind legs five. The humerus was short. The back and abdomen were covered by enlarged scales, the ventral scales were rhombic and arranged in a V-shaped pattern.

The skull was very primitive and resembled that of Acanthostega . It was flat, the upper skull and lower jaw almost the same height. The skull was similar to Ichthyostega's . The eyes were far forward, an ear slit was missing. The enamel layer of the teeth was folded like a labyrinth (labyrinthodont). On the premaxillary they had a pair of enlarged fangs that were hidden in two recesses in the lower jaw when their mouths were closed. The teeth of the lower jaw were significantly larger than those on the maxillary.

Genera

Greererpeton , Mississippium from West Virginia
Pholidogaster , Mississippium of Scotland
Colosteus , Pennsylvania from Ohio

literature

Michael J. Benton : Paleontology of the vertebrates. 2007, ISBN 3-89937-072-4
Robert L. Carroll: Paleontology and Evolution of the Vertebrates , Thieme, Stuttgart (1993), ISBN 3-13-774401-6

Individual evidence

Reconstructed life picture of Colosteus

^ University of Bristol, The Palaeobiology and Biodiversity Research Group: Fossil amphibian families

Web links

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

Palæos Colosteidae

[1] University of Bristol, The Palaeobiology and Biodiversity Research Group: Fossil amphibian families