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Rotaryus gothae

Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Trematopidae

Taxonomy
Rotaryus gothae was named by Berman et al. (2011). Its type specimen is MNG 10182, a partial skeleton (almost complete skull and mandible as well as incomplete anterior portion of postcranium), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Bromacker Quarry (upper level of Tambach sandstone), which is in an Artinskian fluvial-lacustrine sandstone in the Tambach Formation of Germany. It is the type species of Rotaryus.

Synonymy list
YearName and author
2011Rotaryus gothae Berman et al. p. 50 figs. 1-5

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
RankNameAuthor
Tetrapoda
classAmphibia
orderTemnospondyli()
Eutemnospondyli
Rhachitomi()
Dissorophoidea()
Xerodromes
Olsoniformes
familyTrematopidae()
genusRotaryus
speciesgothae

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Rotaryus gothae Berman et al. 2011
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
D. S. Berman et al. 2011A trematopid temnospondyl amphibian that can be distinguished from all other members of the family by two autapomorphies: 1) entire length of nasolacrimal canal exposed as a smooth, uniform channel in which the anterior half coincides with the maxillary-lacrimal suture; and 2) parasphenoid plate has an outline of an isosceles triangle, with the shorter, equal-length lateral margins converging on the cultriform process. The following combination of synapomorphies distinguishes Rotaryus gothae among the trematopids: 1) preorbital skull length greatly exceeds postorbital length; 2) frontals extend anteriorly to approximately the level of the anterior margins of the orbits; 3) nasals narrow as they extend deeply and anteriorly between the premaxillae to a level well beyond the anterior margins of the external nares; 4) midline length of the frontals exceeds midline length of the parietals by 40% or more; 5) prefrontal borders the entire or nearly the entire dorsal margin of the posterior subdivision of the external naris, reducing to 40% or less the contribution of the nasal to the dorsal border of the external naris and the width of the posterior half of the nasal to a width equal to or slightly less than that of the anterior half; 6) internarial fenestra absent; 7) supratympanic flange of the supraotic border of the otic notch without sculpturing; 8) tabular with extremely small, process-like horn; and 9) suborbital processes of the lacrimal and jugal separated by an extremely small contribution of the maxilla to the ventral orbital rim.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: brackish, freshwater, terrestrialuc
Locomotion: actively mobilesubo
Life habit: ground dwellinguc
Diet: carnivoreuc
Dispersal: waterc
Created: 2011-01-30 12:48:41
Modified: 2011-01-29 19:48:41
Source: subo = suborder, c = class, subp = subphylum, uc = unranked clade
References: Reisz et al. 2009, Hendy et al. 2009, Uhen 2004, Carroll 1988

Age range: Artinskian or 290.10000 to 279.30000 Ma

Collections: one only


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Artinskian290.1 - 279.3Germany (Thuringia) Trematopidae new sp. (type locality: 80112)