Laidleria

Laidleria
Temporal range: Early Triassic–Middle Triassic, Anisian
Laidleria gracilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Amphibia
Order:
Temnospondyli
Superfamily:
Plagiosauroidea
Family:
Laidleriidae[1]

Warren, 1998
Genus:
Laidleria

Kitching, 1957
Species

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.  

  1. ^ Anne Warren (1998). "Laidleria uncovered: a redescription of Laidleria gracilis Kitching (1957), a temnospondyl from the Cynognathus Zone of South Africa". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 122 (1–2): 167–185. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1998.tb02528.x.
  2. ^ a b Warren, Anne (1998). "Laidleria uncovered: a redescription of Laidleria gracilis Kitching (1957), a temnospondyl from the Cynognathus Zone of South Africa". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 122 (1–2): 167–185. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1998.tb02528.x.
  3. ^ a b Tarailo, David A (2018). "Taxonomic and ecomorphological diversity of temnospondyl amphibians across the Permian-Triassic boundary in the Karoo Basin (South Africa)". Journal of Morphology. 279 (12): 1840–1848. doi:10.1002/jmor.20906.
  4. ^ Piñero, Graciela (2007-12-30). "Temnospondyl diversity of the Permian-Triassic Colonia Orozco Local Fauna (Buena Vista Formation) of Uruguay". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. 10 (3): 169–180. doi:10.4072/rbp.2007.3.04. ISSN 1519-7530.