Reassessment of the Early Triassic Trematosaurid Temnospondyl Tertrema acuta from the Arctic Island of Spitsbergen
Trematosaurids were globally distributed Early Triassic temnospondyl amphibians characterized by elongate ‘crocodile-like’ skulls. Some of the most famous trematosaurid fossils were discovered on the island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago. Among these, the short-snouted trematosaur...
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ftbioone:10.1080/02724634.2021.1900209 2024-06-02T08:01:32+00:00 Reassessment of the Early Triassic Trematosaurid Temnospondyl Tertrema acuta from the Arctic Island of Spitsbergen Miriam A. Slodownik Thomas Mörs Benjamin P. Kear Miriam A. Slodownik Thomas Mörs Benjamin P. Kear world 2021-09-23 text/HTML https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.1900209 en eng The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.1900209 All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.1900209 Text 2021 ftbioone https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.1900209 2024-05-07T00:51:19Z Trematosaurids were globally distributed Early Triassic temnospondyl amphibians characterized by elongate ‘crocodile-like’ skulls. Some of the most famous trematosaurid fossils were discovered on the island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago. Among these, the short-snouted trematosaurine, Tertrema acuta, is one of the few taxa represented by virtually complete cranial remains. Unusually, however, the type specimens comprise only natural molds that were historically used to reconstruct three-dimensional casts. Here, we re-assess these restorations using the original impressions to phylogenetically analyze and re-diagnose the taxon. Unexpectedly, our first-hand scores differ markedly from previous literature-sourced interpretations and yield conflicting tree topologies that nest T. acuta with long-snouted lonchorhynchines, thus destabilizing the long-favored sub-division of trematosaurids based on their skull shape. We attribute this result to character state conflict and suggest that the traditional classification of trematosaurids may mask more complex evolutionary relationships, as well as possible trophic partitioning, and eco-morphological plasticity. Text Arctic Svalbard Spitsbergen BioOne Online Journals Arctic Arctic Island ENVELOPE(-74.766,-74.766,62.234,62.234) Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 41 1 |
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BioOne Online Journals |
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English |
description |
Trematosaurids were globally distributed Early Triassic temnospondyl amphibians characterized by elongate ‘crocodile-like’ skulls. Some of the most famous trematosaurid fossils were discovered on the island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Svalbard archipelago. Among these, the short-snouted trematosaurine, Tertrema acuta, is one of the few taxa represented by virtually complete cranial remains. Unusually, however, the type specimens comprise only natural molds that were historically used to reconstruct three-dimensional casts. Here, we re-assess these restorations using the original impressions to phylogenetically analyze and re-diagnose the taxon. Unexpectedly, our first-hand scores differ markedly from previous literature-sourced interpretations and yield conflicting tree topologies that nest T. acuta with long-snouted lonchorhynchines, thus destabilizing the long-favored sub-division of trematosaurids based on their skull shape. We attribute this result to character state conflict and suggest that the traditional classification of trematosaurids may mask more complex evolutionary relationships, as well as possible trophic partitioning, and eco-morphological plasticity. |
author2 |
Miriam A. Slodownik Thomas Mörs Benjamin P. Kear |
format |
Text |
author |
Miriam A. Slodownik Thomas Mörs Benjamin P. Kear |
spellingShingle |
Miriam A. Slodownik Thomas Mörs Benjamin P. Kear Reassessment of the Early Triassic Trematosaurid Temnospondyl Tertrema acuta from the Arctic Island of Spitsbergen |
author_facet |
Miriam A. Slodownik Thomas Mörs Benjamin P. Kear |
author_sort |
Miriam A. Slodownik |
title |
Reassessment of the Early Triassic Trematosaurid Temnospondyl Tertrema acuta from the Arctic Island of Spitsbergen |
title_short |
Reassessment of the Early Triassic Trematosaurid Temnospondyl Tertrema acuta from the Arctic Island of Spitsbergen |
title_full |
Reassessment of the Early Triassic Trematosaurid Temnospondyl Tertrema acuta from the Arctic Island of Spitsbergen |
title_fullStr |
Reassessment of the Early Triassic Trematosaurid Temnospondyl Tertrema acuta from the Arctic Island of Spitsbergen |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reassessment of the Early Triassic Trematosaurid Temnospondyl Tertrema acuta from the Arctic Island of Spitsbergen |
title_sort |
reassessment of the early triassic trematosaurid temnospondyl tertrema acuta from the arctic island of spitsbergen |
publisher |
The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.1900209 |
op_coverage |
world |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-74.766,-74.766,62.234,62.234) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Island Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Island Svalbard Svalbard Archipelago |
genre |
Arctic Svalbard Spitsbergen |
genre_facet |
Arctic Svalbard Spitsbergen |
op_source |
https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.1900209 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.1900209 |
op_rights |
All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2021.1900209 |
container_title |
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |
container_volume |
41 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1800745922709159936 |