Manubrantlia

Manubrantlia
Temporal range: Lower Triassic
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The holotype jaw of Manubrantlia khaki in lateral and medial views
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: †Temnospondyli
Suborder: †Stereospondyli
Family: †Lapillopsidae
Genus: †Manubrantlia
Yates & Sengupta, 2002
Type species
†Manubrantlia khaki
Yates & Sengupta, 2002

Manubrantlia was a genus of lapillopsid temnospondyls from the Early Triassic Panchet Formation of India. This genus is only known from a single holotype left jaw, given the designation ISI A 57. Despite the paucity of remains, the jaw is still identifiable as belonging to a relative of Lapillopsis. For example, all three of its coronoid bones possessed teeth, the articular bone is partially visible in lateral (outer) view, and its postsplenial does not contact the posterior meckelian foramen. However, the jaw also possesses certain unique features which justify the erection of a new genus separate from Lapillopsis. For example, the mandible is twice the size of any jaws referred to other lapillopsids. The most notable unique feature is an enlarged "pump-handle" shaped arcadian process at the back of the jaw. This structure is responsible for the generic name of this genus, as "Manubrantlia" translates from Latin to the English expression "pump-handle". The type and only known species of this genus is Manubrantlia khaki. The specific name refers to the greenish-brown mudstones of the Panchet Formation, with a color that had been described as "khaki" by the first British geologists who studied the formation.[1]

Lapillopsids such as Lapillopsis and Manubrantlia are part of Temnospondyli, a diverse order of tetrapods which may include the ancestors of modern amphibians. Different authors disagree on the precise placement of Lapillopsids among temnospondyls. Some place them near or within dissorophoids, a group of terrestrial insectivorous temnospondyls.[2][3] However, most other authors consider lapilopsids to be unusual stereospondyls.[4][5] Stereospondyls are typically large and crocodilian-like Mesozoic temnospondyls with flattened skulls and semiaquatic habits, but lapillopsids differ from this body plan and more closely resemble the dissorophoids, at least superficially.[4]

  1. ^ Yates, Adam M.; Sengupta, Dhurjati P. (2002). "A lapillopsid temnospondyl from the Early Triassic of India". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 26 (2): 201–208. doi:10.1080/03115510208619252. S2CID 85347684.
  2. ^ Warren, A. A.; Hutchinson, M. N. (1990). "Lapillopsis, a new genus of temnospondyl amphibians from the Early Triassic of Queensland". Alcheringa. 14 (2): 149–158. doi:10.1080/03115519008527816.
  3. ^ Pardo, Jason D.; Small, Bryan J.; Huttenlocker, Adam K. (2017-07-03). "Stem caecilian from the Triassic of Colorado sheds light on the origins of Lissamphibia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (27): E5389–E5395. doi:10.1073/pnas.1706752114. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 5502650. PMID 28630337.
  4. ^ a b Yates, Adam M. (June 1999). "The Lapillopsidae: a new family of small temnospondyls from the Early Triassic of Australia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 19 (2): 302–320. doi:10.1080/02724634.1999.10011143.
  5. ^ Schoch, R. R. (2013). "The evolution of major temnospondyl clades: An inclusive phylogenetic analysis". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (6): 673–705. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.699006. S2CID 83906628.