Tristichopterids (Sarcopterygii, Tetrapodomorpha) from the Upper Devonian tetrapod-bearing locality of Strud (Belgium, upper Famennian), with phylogenetic and paleobiogeographic considerations

• Published in: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
• Main Authors: Olive, Sébastien, Leroy, Yann, Daeschler, Edward, Downs, Jason, Ladevèze, S., Clément, Gaël
• Other Authors: Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Drexel University, Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris (CR2P), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology; [SDV.BID.SPT]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biodiversity/Systematics; Phylogenetics and taxonomy; Greenland
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099746; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099746/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03099746/file/_system_appendPDF_proof_hi.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2020.1768105

International audience We describe new material of the tristichopterids cf. Langlieria socqueti and cf. Eusthenodon wangsjoi and other unassignable tetrapodomorph remains from the upper Famennian locality of Strud, Belgium. Because of recent improvements in our tristichopterid knowledge, a new phylogenetic analysis is presented in addition to a paleobiogeographic analysis using the Bayesian binary Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) statistical method. The origin of the whole tristichopterid clade is reconstructed with a very likely western European origin. Much of the early tristichopterid history took place in Euramerica. During the Late Devonian, tristichopterids most probably spread from Euramerica into Gondwana. The highly nested tristichopterid clade formed by Cabonnichthys burnsi, Mandageria fairfaxi, E. wangsjoi, Edenopteron keithcrooki, and Hyneria lindae most likely differentiated in Australia. Then dispersal events occurred from Australia to Euramerica with Hyneria lindae (to eastern North America) and E. wangsjoi (to Greenland/western Europe). The latter dispersal events, during the Famennian, are in agreement with the Great Devonian Interchange, which predicts dispersal events between Gondwana and Euramerica at this time.