Pederpes
| Pederpes | ||||||||||
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Reconstruction of the image of life |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Mississippium ( Tournaisium ) | ||||||||||
| 358.9 to 346.7 million years | ||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Pederpes | ||||||||||
| Clack , 2002 | ||||||||||
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Pederpes is an extinct genus of early terrestrial vertebrates (Tetrapoda) from the early Carboniferous (358.9 to 346.7 mya ) of Europe. It is one of the oldest known tetrapods in which adaptations to locomotion on land have been demonstrated.
discovery
The fossils of pederpes were 1971 in western Scotland at Dumbarton in the Ballagan lineup from the Tournaisium (early Mississippian called earlier "Carboniferous") found and as Fleischflosser , ie as a fish bone determined . The type is an almost complete skeleton, preserved in the original bone structure, only the tail and some bones of the skull and limbs were missing. It was not until 2002 that Jennifer Clack realized that the fossils were not fish, but one of the first known land-dwelling tetrapods and published the first scientific description of the genus and its type species .
At the time of its discovery, Pederpes was of great scientific importance, as it was one of the first finds from the period of the so-called Romer gap , a period of around 20 million years from which until then hardly any fossils of land-living tetrapods were known in the fossil record . In addition, the skeleton was well preserved and was therefore able to provide many important findings.
Physique and lifestyle
This early terrestrial vertebrate was three feet long and had a large, slightly triangular head. This was similar to that of its younger American sister genus Whatcheeria , from which Pederpes differs through various skeletal features , such as a thorn-like appendage on the humerus and some skull features. The front feet had a very small, additional toe, thus showing polydactyly , but these feet differ from the widened, paddle-shaped feet of the older, Devonian Ichthyostegalia ; they are more like the feet of later carbonic forms, more adapted to locomotion on land. Pederpes is possibly the earliest known terrestrial vertebrate that documents the beginnings of locomotion on land, including an at least functional fifteen-toe (also: five-point, pentadactyly) characteristic of terrestrial vertebrates.
The shape of the skull and the fact that the feet pointed more forward than to the side suggest that the pederpes were well adapted to country life. It is currently the oldest known full, terrestrial animal, although the structure of the ear shows that it could hear better underwater than on land, and spent much of its time in the water and able to hunt there.
The narrow skull indicates that Pederpes breathed more muscle-controlled, like most modern terrestrial vertebrates, and not pumping air into the lungs with a throat sac like most modern amphibians .
supporting documents
- ↑ JA Clack: An early tetrapod from 'Romer's Gap' In: Nature , Volume 418, No. 6893, 2002; Pp. 72-76, doi : 10.1038 / nature00824
literature
- Dixon, Dougal. The World Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures. Anness Publishing Ltd. London, UK: 2007.
- JA Clack: An early tetrapod from 'Romer's Gap' In: Nature , Volume 418, No. 6893, 2002; Pp. 72-76, doi : 10.1038 / nature00824
Web links
- Oldest air-breathing animal found Spektrum.de. 2002
- Pederpes finneyae, an articulated tetrapod from the Tournaisian of Western Scotland ( Abstract ) by Jennifer Clack (2004)