Capitosaurus

Genus of amphibians (fossil)

Capitosaurus
Temporal range: Upper Triassic
PreꞒ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Capitosaurus polaris skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Amphibia
Order:
Temnospondyli
Superfamily:
Capitosauroidea
Family:
Capitosauridae
Genus:
Capitosaurus

Münster, 1836
Binomial name
Capitosaurus arenaceus
Münster, 1836


Capitosaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl from the Late Triassic of Germany. Its skull was 30 cm long, with a total length over 122 cm.[1] It was one of the first temnospondyl genera to have been erected, with the type species, C. arenaceus, originally described by Münster in 1836 based on a partial skull from the earliest Upper Triassic of Bavaria, Germany. Numerous other species were referred to Capitosaurus before the 1920s, but through much of the 20th century most authors considered the original specimen of C. arenaceus to be undiagnostic, effectively invalidating the genus and leading to the referral of all species but the type to other genera. However, Rainer Schoch had suggested in his 2008 revision of the Capitosauria that C. arenaceus may be a valid taxon, likely closely related to Cyclotosaurus and Kupferzellia.[2]

Restoration of Capitosaurus

References

  • iconPaleontology portal
  1. ^ http://www.angellis.net/Web/PDfiles/amphs.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ Schoch, R.R. (2008). "The Capitosauria (Amphibia): characters, phylogeny, and stratigraphy" (PDF). Palaeodiversity. 1: 189–226.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Tetrapodomorpha
    • see Tetrapodomorpha
Temnospondyli
    • see Temnospondyli
Stereospondyli
    • see below↓
Lapillopsidae
Rhinesuchidae
Lydekkerinidae
Capitosauria
Trematosauria
    • see below↓
Uranocentrodon senekalensis

Lydekkerina huxleyi

Paracyclotosaurus davidi
Benthosuchidae
Trematosauridae
Metoposauridae
Rhytidosteidae
Derwentiinae
Chigutisauridae
Brachyopidae
Plagiosauridae
Trematolestes hagdorni

Metoposaurus diagnosticus

Gerrothorax pulcherrimus
Taxon identifiers
Capitosaurus


Stub icon

This Temnospondyli-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e
Stub icon

This article related to a Triassic animal is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e