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Asaphestera

Taxonomy
Asaphestera was named by Steen (1934). It is not extant.

It was assigned to Tuditanidae by Carroll (1988) and Carroll et al. (1998); to Microsauria by Haubold et al. (2005); to Lepospondyli by Maddin et al. (2012); and to Synapsida by Mann et al. (2020).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1894Hylerpeton intermedium Dawson
1902Hylerpeton intermedium Hay p. 413
1934Asaphestera Steen
1988Asaphestera Carroll
1998Asaphestera Carroll et al. p. 5
1998Asaphestera intermedia Carroll et al. p. 34
2005Asaphestra Haubold et al. p. 78
2012Asaphestera Maddin et al.
2020Asaphestera Mann et al.

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
RankNameAuthor
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
subclassSynapsida
genusAsaphesteraSteen 1934

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.

G. †Asaphestera Steen 1934
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Asaphestera platyris Steen 1934
Invalid names: Asaphestera intermedia Dawson 1894 [nomen dubium]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
A. Mann et al. 2020Steen (1934) described this taxon in some detail, but did not highlight any character states as diagnostic. We think, however, that the following passage (Steen 1934, p. 494) may count as ‘purported to differentiate the taxon’ for the purpose of rendering the names Asaphestera and A. platyris available under Article 13.1.1 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999): ‘Asaphestera platyris has a skull short and broad,
with an abruptly rounded snout and small, widely separated orbits. The premaxillæ are short and deep; but more interesting features are the position of the dermosupraoccipitals and in part the tabulars on the occipital surface, and the fact that the temporal row is represented by two bones only, of whose nomenclature there is no criterion, but which I propose to call postfrontal and tabular.’ As described below, we disagree with most of the second sentence, and the first, while probably accurate, is of doubtful diagnostic value. However, we think Asaphestera and its only species, A. platyris, can be diagnosed by the fact that the greater part of its small, acutely triangular, median postparietal (part of what Steen interpreted as the right ‘dermo-supraoccipital’) is located on the occipital surface of the skull, while its rostral tip (rounded, although the sides form an acute angle) extends onto the skull table, wedging between the parietals (Fig. 1). This combination of features appears to be unique.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialuc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Created: 2017-04-17 15:15:35
Modified: 2017-04-17 15:15:35
Source: c = class, subp = subphylum, uc = unranked clade
References: Hendy et al. 2009, Carroll 1988

Age range: Westphalian A or 318.70000 to 316.90000 Ma

Collections: one only


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Westphalian A318.7 - 316.9Canada (Nova Scotia) A. intermedia (86946)