Discosauriscus

Discosauriscus Temporal range: Early Permian
Discosauriscus austriacus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Amphibia sensu lato
Order:	Seymouriamorpha
Family:	Discosauriscidae
Genus:	Discosauriscus Kuhn, 1933
Species
D. austriacus (Makowsky, 1876) D. pulcherrimus (Fritsch, 1879) (type)
Synonyms
Letoverpeton Spinar, 1952

Discosauriscus was a small reptiliomorph that lived in Central and Western Europe in the Lower Permian Period. Its best fossils have been found in Boskovice Furrow, in the Czech Republic.

Classification

Discosauriscus austriacus

Discosauriscus

Discosauriscus belongs in alternative classifications to the order Anthracosauria or Seymouriamorpha, and is the type genus of the family Discosauriscidae. Currently recognised are two valid species - Discosauriscus austriacus and Discosauriscus pulcherrimus. Letoverpeton is a junior synonym of Discosauriscus.^[1]

Characteristics

Discosauriscids are only known from larval or neotenic forms,^[2] and three ontogenetic stages can be distinguished.^[3] Discosauriscus had wide jaws with sharp teeth, short limbs and relatively long tail.^[4] The phalangeal formula was 2-3-4-5-3 for both hind- and forelimbs. The body was covered with rounded scales with concentric rings, and a well preserved lateral-line system has been described.^[5]

Discosauriscus may have had electroreceptive organs.^[6]

References

1. ^ Klembara, Jozef (1997). "The cranial anatomy of Discosauriscus Kuhn, a seymouriamorph tetrapod from the Lower Permian of the Boskovice Furrow (Czech Republic)". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 352: 257–302. PMC 1691931. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1691931. 
2. ^ Carroll, R.L. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, pp 176. WH Freeman and Company, New York ISBN 0-7167-1822-7
3. ^ Klembara, Jozef. 1996. Discosauriscus. Version 01 January 1996. http://tolweb.org/Discosauriscus/17544/1996.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
4. ^ dinosaurier-news - Discosauriscus: Ein Amphibium aus der Permzeit
5. ^ Klembara, Jozef. 1996. Discosauriscus. Version 01 January 1996. http://tolweb.org/Discosauriscus/17544/1996.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/
6. ^ Klembara, J, Electroreceptors in the Lower Permian tetrapod Discosauriscus austriacus,Palaeontology, Vol 37, part 3, (1994)

Paleontology portal