| Broomistega Temporal range: Early Triassic,
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Skeleton of a juvenile Broomistega putterilli shown in ventral (C) and dorsal (D) views | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Temnospondyli |
| Suborder: | †Stereospondyli |
| Family: | †Rhinesuchidae |
| Genus: | †Broomistega Shishkin and Rubidge, 2000 |
| Type species | |
| Lydekkerina putterilli Broom, 1930
| |
Broomistega is an extinct genus of temnospondyl in the family Rhinesuchidae. It is known from one species, Broomistega putterilli, which was renamed in 2000 from Lydekkerina putterilli Broom 1930. Fossils are known from the Early Triassic Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Basin of present-day South Africa, a region that had been an enclave of Gondwana. Specimens of B. putterilli were once thought to represent young individuals of another larger rhinesuchid such as Uranocentrodon, but the species is now regarded as a paedomorphic taxon, possessing the features of juvenile rhinesuchids into adulthood.[1]
In 2013, a well-preserved skeleton of Broomistega was discovered alongside the skeleton of the cynodont Thrinaxodon (a mammal relative) in a cast of a burrow. The individual probably entered the burrow while the cynodont was in a state of aestivation (dormancy), and afterwards a flash flood filled the burrow with sediment to preserve both bodies together.[2]
- ^ Shishkin, M. A.; Rubidge, B. S. (2000). "A Relict Rhinesuchid (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the Lower Triassic of South Africa". Palaeontology. 43 (4): 653. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00144.
- ^ Fernandez, V.; Abdala, F.; Carlson, K. J.; Cook, D. C.; Rubidge, B. S.; Yates, A.; Tafforeau, P. (2013). Butler, Richard J (ed.). "Synchrotron Reveals Early Triassic Odd Couple: Injured Amphibian and Aestivating Therapsid Share Burrow". PLOS ONE. 8 (6): e64978. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064978. PMC 3689844. PMID 23805181.