Plagiosaurus

Plagiosaurus
Temporal range: Triassic
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Temnospondyli
Suborder: Stereospondyli
Family: Plagiosauridae
Genus: Plagiosaurus
Jaekel, 1914
Type species
Plagiosaurus depressus
Jaekel, 1914

Plagiosaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian. The type and only species is P. depressus, first described by Otto Jaekel in 1914.[1] Arthur Smith Woodward regarded the genus as a synonym of Plagiosternum, but most researchers consider it to be valid.[2] It was paedomorphic, retaining the larval gills in adulthood. Like many stereospondyls, it had weak simplified vertebrae, consisting of large intercentra and neural arches, which is known as the stereospondylous condition.

  1. ^ Witzmann, F.; Schoch, R. R. (2024). "Osteology and phylogenetic position of Plagiosaurus depressus (Temnospondyli: Plagiosauridae) from the Late Triassic of Germany and the repeated loss of dermal bones in plagiosaurids". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae014.
  2. ^ Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Vol. 35. American Philosophical Society. 1946. p. 395. ISBN 978-1-4223-7723-9.