Oestocephalus

Oestocephalus Temporal range: Carboniferous
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Subclass:	Lepospondyli
Order:	Aïstopoda
Family:	Oestocephalidae
Genus:	Oestocephalus Cope, 1868
Species
O. amphiuminus Cope, 1868 (type) O. nanum Hancock & Atthey, 1868

Oestocephalus is an extinct genus of aïstopod lepospondyl that lived during the Carboniferous period. Fossils have been found from the Czech Republic as well as Ohio and Illinois in the United States. It is the type genus of the family Oestocephalidae, although it was previously assigned to the family Ophiderpetontidae, which is now considered paraphyletic^[1]. It was first named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1868 and now contains two species, O. amphiuminus and O. nanum.

References

1. ^ Anderson, J. S. (2003). Cranial anatomy of Coloraderpeton brilli, postcranial anatomy of Oestocephalus amphiuminus, and reconsideration of Ophiderpentontidae (Tetrapoda: Lepospondyli: Aistopoda). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23(3):532-543.

See also

• Prehistoric amphibian
• List of prehistoric amphibians

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