Sclerocephalus

Sclerocephalus
	Adult specimen of Sclerocephalus haeuseri from Jeckenbach (Palatinate) in the State Museum for Natural History Stuttgart
Temporal occurrence
	Gzhelium to Asselium ( Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian )
	303.7 to 295.5 million years
Locations
	Rhineland-Palatinate (Heimkirchen, Ohmbach, Jeckenbach, Odernheim, Rehborn, Niederkirchen, St. Wendel); Thuringia (Friedrichroda);
Systematics
	Land vertebrates (Tetrapoda)
	Temnospondyli
	Eryopiformes
	Stereospondylomorpha
	Sclerocephalus
Scientific name
	Sclerocephalus
	Goldfuß , 1847
species
	Sclerocephalus haeuseri; Sclerocephalus bavaricus; Sclerocephalus jogischneideri; Sclerocephalus nobilis;

Sclerocephalus is a genus of the Temnospondyles that was found in the Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian regions of Central Europe. The type species, Sclerocephalus haeuseri , is known from several hundred skull and skeletal remains from the Saar-Nahe basin . In addition to fully grown specimens, fossils of young animals (partly larvae with external gills) were found in several places, so that the ontogeny could be described.

description

Sclerocephalus reached a length of 1.5 to 1.8 m and had an elongated body reminiscent of today's giant salamanders . The entire body was covered with osteoderms . The massive skull was flattened and had an elongated snout. The edge of the jaw and palate were covered with irregularly arranged, slightly curved teeth. The top of the skull carried a sturdy sculpture made of net-like strips. Impressions of side lines can be found v. a. in young animals. This resembled Sclerocephalus. of the North American genus Eryops , but it was a little lighter and did not reach its dimensions.

Way of life

Sclerocephalus lived in lakes of various sizes, ranging from a few hundred meters to over 80 km in diameter. Adults captured fish ( Paramblypterus , Aeduella ), which is safely proven by stomach contents. In larger bodies of water, the animals remained in the water for life, while smaller lakes were apparently abandoned.

Historical

Sclerocephalus is one of the historically oldest described genera of Paleozoic land vertebrates (tetrapods). It was first described as a fish by the German paleontologist August Goldfuß in 1847 . The type locality is the parish forest near Heimkirchen (Palatinate), but the richest and best preserved finds were made near Jeckenbach and Odernheim .

literature

Ludwig Ammon: The Permian amphibians of the Rhine Palatinate. Straub, Munich 1889.
Werner Branco: Weissia bavarica gn sp. n., a new stegocephale from the lower Rotliegend. In: Yearbook of the Royal Prussian State Geological Institute and Bergakademie Berlin. 1887, pp. 22-39.
Ferdinand Broili: About Sclerocephalus Häuseri Goldfuss. In: Meeting reports of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. 1926, pp. 199-222.
Jürgen Boy: About some representatives of the Eryopoidea (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the European Rotliegend (? Highest Carbon - Permian). 1. Sclerocephalus. In: Paleontological Journal. 62, 1988, pp. 107-132.
Rainer Schoch, Florian Witzmann: Osteology and relationships of the temnospondyl Sclerocephalus. In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society London. 157, 2009, pp. 135-168.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b R. R. Schoch, F. Witzmann: Osteology and relationships of the temnospondyl Sclerocephalus. In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society London. 157, 2009, pp. 135-168.
↑ Boy JA: About some representatives of the Eryopoidea (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the European Rotliegend (? Highest Carbon - Permian). 1. Sclerocephalus. In: Paleontological Journal. 62, 1988, pp. 107-132.
^ RR Schoch: The early larval ontogeny of the Permo-Carboniferous temnospondyl Sclerocephalus. In: Palaeontology. 46, 2003, pp. 1055-1072.
^ F. Witzmann: The evolution of the scalation pattern in temnospondyl amphibians. In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society London. 150, 2007, pp. 815-834.
↑ JA Boy: About some representatives of the Eryopoidea (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the European Rotliegend (? Highest Carbon - Permian). 1. Sclerocephalus. In: Paleontological Journal. 62, 1988, pp. 107-132.
^ RR Schoch, AR Milner: Temnospondyli. In: HD Sues (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology. Volume 3A2, Pfeil, Munich 2014.
↑ JA Boy, HD. Sues: Branchiosaurs: larvae, metamorphosis and heterochrony in temnospondyls and seymouriamorphs. In: H. Heatwole, RL Carroll (Ed.): Amphibian Biology 4: Palaeontology. Surrey Beatty, Chipping Norton 2000, pp. 1150-1197.
↑ JA Boy: Possibilities and limits of an ecosystem reconstruction using the example of the late Paleozoic lacustrine paleo ecosystem. 1. Theoretical and methodological foundations. In: Paleontological Journal. 72, 1998, pp. 207-240.
^ RR Schoch: Developmental evolution as a response to diverse lake habitats in Paleozoic amphibians. In: evolution. 63, 2009, pp. 2738-2749.
^ A. Goldfuss: Contributions to the pre-world fauna of the coal mountains. Natural History Association of the Prussian Rhineland, Bonn 1847.
↑ JA Boy: When the dinosaurs were still small: tetrapods in permocarbon. In: T. Schindler, U. Heidtke (Ed.): Coal sumps, lakes and semi-deserts. Pollichia special publication, vol. 10. Pollichia, Bad Dürkheim 2007, pp. 258-286.

Web links

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

[R._Schoch,_F._Witzmann_2009-1] A ^b R. R. Schoch, F. Witzmann: Osteology and relationships of the temnospondyl Sclerocephalus. In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society London. 157, 2009, pp. 135-168.

[2] Boy JA: About some representatives of the Eryopoidea (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the European Rotliegend (? Highest Carbon - Permian). 1. Sclerocephalus. In: Paleontological Journal. 62, 1988, pp. 107-132.

[3] RR Schoch: The early larval ontogeny of the Permo-Carboniferous temnospondyl Sclerocephalus. In: Palaeontology. 46, 2003, pp. 1055-1072.

[4] F. Witzmann: The evolution of the scalation pattern in temnospondyl amphibians. In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society London. 150, 2007, pp. 815-834.

[5] JA Boy: About some representatives of the Eryopoidea (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the European Rotliegend (? Highest Carbon - Permian). 1. Sclerocephalus. In: Paleontological Journal. 62, 1988, pp. 107-132.

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

[7] JA Boy, HD. Sues: Branchiosaurs: larvae, metamorphosis and heterochrony in temnospondyls and seymouriamorphs. In: H. Heatwole, RL Carroll (Ed.): Amphibian Biology 4: Palaeontology. Surrey Beatty, Chipping Norton 2000, pp. 1150-1197.

[8] JA Boy: Possibilities and limits of an ecosystem reconstruction using the example of the late Paleozoic lacustrine paleo ecosystem. 1. Theoretical and methodological foundations. In: Paleontological Journal. 72, 1998, pp. 207-240.

[9] RR Schoch: Developmental evolution as a response to diverse lake habitats in Paleozoic amphibians. In: evolution. 63, 2009, pp. 2738-2749.

[10] A. Goldfuss: Contributions to the pre-world fauna of the coal mountains. Natural History Association of the Prussian Rhineland, Bonn 1847.

[11] JA Boy: When the dinosaurs were still small: tetrapods in permocarbon. In: T. Schindler, U. Heidtke (Ed.): Coal sumps, lakes and semi-deserts. Pollichia special publication, vol. 10. Pollichia, Bad Dürkheim 2007, pp. 258-286.