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