Laidleria Temporal range: Early Triassic–Middle Triassic,
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Laidleria gracilis | |
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Family: | Warren, 1998
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Genus: | Laidleria Kitching, 1957
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Laidleria is an extinct genus of temnospondyl that likely lived between the Early to Middle Triassic, though its exact stratigraphic range is less certain. Laidleria has been found in the Karoo Basin in South Africa, in Cynognathus Zone A or B.[2][3] The genus is represented by only one species, L. gracilis, though the family Laidleriidae does include other genera, such as Uruyiella, sister taxon to Laidleria, which was discovered and classified in 2007.[4]
Laidleria has been described as being among the smaller temnospondyls, being comparable in size to the smallest of the temnospondyl genera, the bulk of which lived immediately after the Permian-Triassic extinction event.[3] Unlike many other temnospondyls, which were largely aquatic or semi-aquatic, Laidleria likely had a much more terrestrial lifestyle, with its body being covered in dermal armor.[2] However, like other temnospondyls, Laidleria had a sprawling posture.