Eryopiformes

Eryopiformes
Temporal range: Early Carboniferous - Early Cretaceous, 330–120 Ma
Possible descendant taxon Lissamphibia survives to present.
Skeleton cast of Eryops megacephalus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Temnospondyli
Clade: Rhachitomi
Clade: Eryopiformes
Schoch, 2013
Clades

Eryopiformes is a group of rhachitomi temnospondyls. Eryopiformes was named by the German paleontologist Rainer R. Schoch in 2013. He defined it as a node-based taxon to include Eryopidae and Stereospondylomorpha. Unlike previous analyses, a phylogenetic analysis he performed found no support for a monophyletic Euskelia, that is defined to include Dissorophoidea and Eryopidae (and also usually includes Zatracheidae), in relation to Stereospondylomorpha. In this analysis, Eryopidae and Stereospondylomorpha usually formed a monophyletic clade that excludes the clade formed by Zatracheidae and Dissorophoidea. Thus, he named this newly identified group as Eryopiformes.[1]

  1. ^ Schoch, R. R. (2013). "The evolution of major temnospondyl clades: An inclusive phylogenetic analysis". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11: 673–705. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.699006.