Temnospondyli

10.280.10.50.120^Temnospondyli|10.290.50.50.20.10.120^Temnospondyli|10.290.170.120^Temnospondyli|30.130.50.50.20.10.120^Temnospondyli|30.130.170.120^Temnospondyli

Temnospondyli

Temnospondyls are a very large and widespread extinct clade of stegocephalians. They are known from the Visean (Lower Carboniferous, about -340 m.y.) to the Lower Cretaceous (-120 m.y.) and have been found on all continents, from Greenland to Antarctica. More than twelve families are known, gathering about 90 genera (Milner, 1993). Temnospondyls show a great diversity of forms, resembling large salamanders, crocodiles or gavials, with brevirostral (short-snouted; Fig. 1C) to longirostral (long-snouted) skulls (Fig. 1D). Their size ranges from about 20 cm to 3 m in length. Aquatic, semi-aquatic, amphibious or terrestrial, this opportunist group occupied a great range of ecological niches, especially during the Upper Carboniferous and the Lower Permian. From the Upper Permian to their demise in the Lower Cretaceous, temnospondyls are largely (if not entirely) restricted to aquatic habitats; i.e. they were found in fresh waters on continents and in the seas (Lindeman, 1991). http://tolweb.org/Temnospondyli RD

Accepted