Australerpeton

Australerpeton is an extinct genus of stereospondylomorph temnospondyl currently believed to belong to the family Rhinesuchidae. When first named in 1998, the genus was placed within the new family Australerpetontidae.^[1] However, studies published a few years later questioned the systematics used in the original description and included the genus within Archegosauridae.^[2] A study by Dias & Schultz (2003) reassigned Australerpeton to the family Rhinesuchidae within the suborder Stereospondyli based on an earlier evaluation of the family. In this study, the close similarities between Australerpeton and archegosaurids were attributed to convergent evolution as a result of similar semi-aquatic lifestyles.^[3] A redescription of the skeleton of this genus was published by Eltink & Langer in 2014, and the skull was redescribed in a follow-up study published by Eltink et al. in 2016.^[4][5] These studies, as well as a 2017 study focusing on rhinesuchids in general, confirmed that Australerpeton was a rhinesuchid rather than an archegosaurid.^[6] Fossils of the genus have been found in the Rio do Rasto Formation of Brazil.^[7]

Australerpeton Temporal range: Late Permian, Lopingian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Temnospondyli
Suborder:	†Stereospondyli
Family:	†Rhinesuchidae
Genus:	†Australerpeton Barberena, 1998
Type species
Australerpeton cosgriffi Barberena, 1998

References

1. Barberena, M. C. (1998). "Australerpeton cosgriffi n.g., n.sp., a Late Permian Rhinesuchoid amphibian from Brazil". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 70 (1): 125–137.
2. Schoch, R. R. and Milner, A. R. (2000). Stereospondyli. Stem-stereospondyli, Rhinesuchidae, Rhytidostea, Trematosauroidea, Capitosauroidea. Handbuch der paläoherpetologie Part 3B. 203p
3. Dias, E. V.; Schultz, C. L. (2003). "The first Paleozoic temnospondyl postcranial skeleton from South America" (PDF). Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. 6: 29–42. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-07-05.
4. Eltink, Estevan; Langer, Max C. (2014). "A New Specimen of the Temnospondyl Australerpeton cosgriffi from the Late Permian of Brazil (Rio Do Rasto Formation, Paraná Basin): Comparative Anatomy and phylogenetic relationships". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (3): 524–538. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.826667. JSTOR 24523275.
5. Eltink, Estevan; Dias, Eliseu V.; Dias-da-Silva, Sérgio; Schultz, Cesar L.; Langer, Max C. (2016-04-01). "The cranial morphology of the temnospondyl Australerpeton cosgriffi (Tetrapoda: Stereospondyli) from the Middle-Late Permian of Paraná Basin and the phylogenetic relationships of Rhinesuchidae". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 176 (4): 835–860. doi:10.1111/zoj.12339. ISSN 0024-4082.
6. Marsicano, Claudia A.; Latimer, Elizabeth; Rubidge, Bruce; Smith, Roger M.H. (2017-10-01). "The Rhinesuchidae and early history of the Stereospondyli (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) at the end of the Palaeozoic". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 181 (2). doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlw032. hdl:11336/105150. ISSN 0024-4082.
7. Karine Lohmann Azevedo; Cristina Silveira Vega; Marina Bento Soares (2017). "A new specimen of Australerpeton cosgriffi Barberena, 1998 (Stereospondyli: Rhinesuchidae) from the Middle/Upper Permian Rio do Rasto Formation, Paraná Basin, Brazil". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. 20 (3): 333–344. doi:10.4072/rbp.2017.3.05.