The Amphibamidae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli), with a description of a new genus from the Upper Pennsylvanian of Kansas

68 Pages·1994·20.261 MB·English

by  Eleanor Daly

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THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MI
^j^aton
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
No. 85
The Amphibamidae (Amphibia:
Temnospondyli), with a Description
of a New Genus from the Upper
Pennsylvanian of Kansas
Eleanor Daly
LAWRENCE 17 February 1994
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The University of Kansas
Museum of Natural History
Miscellaneous Publication No. 85
17 February 1994
The Amphibamidae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli),
with a Description of a New Genus from the Upper
Pennsylvanian of Kansas
Eleanor Daly
Mississippi Museum ofNatural Science
111 North Jefferson Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39201
USA
MuseumofNatural History
DycheHall
TheUniversityofKansas
Lawrence, Kansas
MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS
Editorsfor this issue: Robert M. Mengel, Richard F. Johnston, and Larry D. Martin
Managing Editor: Joseph T. Collins
Assistant Managing Editor: Kate Shaw
Miscellaneous Publication No. 85
Pp. iv + 1-59; 40 figures; 4 tables
Published 17 February 1994
ISBN: 0-89338-046-6
© 1994 by Museum ofNaturalHistory
Dyche Hall
TheUniversityofKansas
Lawrence, Kansas 66045-2454, USA
Printedby
UniversityofKansasPrintingService
Lawrence,Kansas
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
1
THEHAMILTON LABYRINTHODONT.....
1
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
2
ABBREVIATIONS
-., ., 3
SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY 3
ClassAmphibia 3
OrderTemnospondyli 3
Superfamily Dissorophoidea 3
FamilyAmphibamidae 3
Type genus 3
Revised diagnosis 3
Taxonomic note 3
Eoscopus, new genus 3
Etymology 3
Diagnosis 3
Eoscopus lockardi, new species 4
Taxonomic note 4
Holotype 4
Paratypes 4
Description 5
General features 5
Skull 5
Lowerjaw 10
Vertebrae 11
Ribs 14
Pectoral girdle 15
Pelvic girdle 17
Forelimb 19
Hindlimb 20
Amphibamus Cope 1865 24
Skull 25
Vertebrae 27
Ribs 30
,
Girdles 32
Limbs 32
Dermal structures 33
Tersomius Case 1910 34
Skull 35
Lowerjaw 39
Axial skeleton : 39
Girdles and limbs 42
The FamilyAmphibamidae 45
The Dissorophoidea Now 47
DISCUSSION 52
SUMMARY
55
LITERATURE CITED 55
INTRODUCTION
A previously unknown Pennsylvanian dis- al., 1972).In 1976,thefaunaandfloraofthequarry
sorophoid is part of the fossil fauna of Hamilton werethesubjectofasymposiumatthe 108thannual
Quarry,easternKansas(UniversityofKansasVerte- meetingoftheKansasAcademyofScience (Trans.
brate Paleontology KU-GRN-01); Greenwood Kansas Acad. Sci. 79:99-102). In 1988, another
County, ca. 2 mi E of Hamilton, (Sec. 5, T24S, Hamilton Quarry symposium was held at the 22nd
R12E). The fossil-bearing limestone is a channel annual meeting of the south-central section ofthe
depositinorhasbeenerodedintotheTopekaLime- Geological Society of America, with a day-long
stone of the Shawnee Group, Virgilian Stage. Its fieldtriptothequarryarea.Thecomprehensivefield
relativetimerelationswithotherwell-knownPenn- tripguidebook(MapesandMapes, 1988)isthebest
sylvanian vertebrate fossil localities are shown in source of information on Hamilton Quarry and
Figure 1(compiledfrom:Bell,1944;Branson,1962a, includes a complete history of work at the quarry
1962b, 1962c; Carroll, 1967a, 1967b, 1969; (Bridge and Mapes, 1988).
Copeland, 1957; DeMar, 1970; Eagar, 1964; J. T. The fauna reported from Hamilton Quarry in-
Gregory, 1950;Moran, 1952;Olson, 1946;Panchen cludestetrapods,acanthodianfish,sharks,lungfish,
and Walker, 1961; Peabody, 1952; Reisz, 1972; eurypterids, arachnids, insects, myriapods, crusta-
Romer, 1952; Vaughn, 1969, 1972; and Wanless, ceans, bivalves, crinoids, bryozoans andfusilinids.
1962). By far the most common vertebrates are an
Walter Lockard discovered the first vertebrate acanthodian,Acanthodesbridgei(Zidek, 1976),and
specimen, an acanthodian fish, atthe quarry site in the labyrinthodont described herein. The fish re-
1964whilelookingforinvertebratefossils.In 1969, mains often are whole bodies, and the tetrapods
ThomasE. Bridge (DepartmentofGeologyofEm- often are found as articulated groups of bones,
poriaStateUniversity)begantotakefieldpartiesto sometimesasnearlycompleteskeletons.Thesespeci-
thequarry.Sincethen,fossilmaterialfromHamilton mens are eitherflattened onto a bedding plane in a
Quarry has become more widely studied. The first layered brownish-gray to buff limestone, or pre-
publishedreportwasanabstractofapaperreadata servedthree dimensionally inamassive gray lime-
Geological Society ofAmericameeting (Bridge et stone.
THE HAMILTON LABYRINTHODONT
This labyrinthodont belongs to the Dissoro- ofthisfamilyname,Trematopsidae, isnotproperly
phoidea, a group of rhachitomous temnospondyls formed(fromthegenitivesingularoftheGreekops,
knownmainlyfromtheLowerPermianofthesouth- opos)andshouldbecorrectedaccordingtotheCode
centralandsouthwesternUnitedStates.Thissuper- (Milner, 1978)).TheTrematopidaearedistinguished
family is fairly well known, with more than 20 by antorbital openings that communicate with the
namedgenera.Ingeneral,dissorophoidsaresmallto external nares and by a somewhat squared snout
mediuminsizeandtheirskeletonsarewellossified (Berman et al., 1985). The Hamilton dissorophoid
overall with relatively long slim limbs and short does not show these features. The best match was
vertebral columns. The interclavicles andclavicles with the characters of the family Dissorophidae.
of dissorophoids are small and their femora bear Mostnotably, the squamosal ofthe Hamilton laby-
large adductor flanges..Typically, their skulls are rinthodont bears a semilunar flange that projects
short-faced with largeorbits andhighotic notches. ventrally into the otic notch (DeMar, 1968).
Distinguishingmarks ofsmallerscale are notlack- Thedissorophidsarebestknownfortheirdorsal
ing. dermal armorplates. Theirskulls usually are orna-
Initial assignment of the Hamilton labyrinth- mented with characteristic superficial ridges and
odontto adissorophoid family didnotpresent any exostoses. The Hamilton dissorophoid lacks these
problem.ThegilledMicromelerpetontidaeandBran- striking features, but they are lacking also in .4/;/-
chiosauridae (Boy, 1972) were clearly not nearest phibamus of the Pennsylvanian. Tersomius of the
relatives. Oftheterrestrialfamilies,theTrematopi- LowerPermianandMicropholisoftheLowerTrias-
dae wereeasilydismissedalso. (The usual spelling sic, all heretofore considered dissorophids. These
-
UNIV. KANSAS MUS. NAT. HIST. MISC. PUB. No. 85
PENNSYLVANIAN UPPER CARBONIFEROUS
LOCALITIES
ILLINOISAN MIDCONTIN. APPALACH. EUROPEAN COAL MEA. NOVA SCOT.
MONON- Kounova-
VIRGILIAN
GAHELAN
§§§§ -Hamilton
-Pittsburgh
I
-Falmouth STE-
PHANIAN
-Garnett, Howard
McLEANS-
BOROAN MISSOURIAN CONE- -Pitcairn UPPER
MAUGHIAN
-Oakwood
DES- D
MOINESAN -Linton Nyrany- WEST-
alleghen"-KM.azon nCreek Florence- PHAL- PICTOUAN
KEEWA- C
Fenton-
NEEAN IAN
B CUMBER-
Newsham- . MID-
Airdrie- . DLE LANDIAN
McCOR- ATOKAN POTTS Joggins-
MICKIAN VILLEAN Pirnie-
A .LOW
Jarrow. Swanwick-
-ER RIVERSDAL
Colne-
WM.
MORROWAN
NAM'IRIAN CANSOAN
v////////
Fi?. 1. Timerelationschartofwell-knownfossilvertebratelocalitiesofthePennsy1vanianandUpperCarboniferous.
unarmored,normal-skulledgenerahavealwaysbeen definition ofthe family. To test the idea that these
placedatthebaseofproposeddissorophidphytoge- unspecialized dissorophoids and the Hamilton
nies because oftheir apparently unspecialized na- dissorophoid are members ofa long-lived distinct
tureandthegreatageofAmphibamus(Westphalian group, specimensoftheNorthAmericanAmphiba-
D equivalent). mus and Tersomius species were assembled for
Boy(1985)recommendedremovaloftheseatypi- reconsideration. As a result of this study and an
calgenerafromtheDissorophidae,andsuspicionis extensive literature survey, this hypothesis is sup-
growingamongotherrecentworkers(Bermanetal., ported and familial reassignments are proposed.
1987)thattheycannotbeincludedinanyreasonable
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Iwouldlike toexpressmy gratitudetoLarryD. O. Wiley, The University of Kansas, and Donald
Martin, William E. Duellman and Hans-Peter BairdofPrincetonUniversitymadeacastofthetype
Schultze of The University of Kansas for their ofAmphibamus lyelli for me. The SEM (scanning
advice and criticism during the production of this electronmicroscope)photomicrographsweremade
paper. Thanks arealsoduetothoseinstitutions that byLorraine HammerofThe UniversityofKansas.
lenttheirspecimensforstudy.Theauthorhasprofited This paper was improved by the comments oftwo
fromconversations withAndrew R. andAngela C. anonymous reviewers.
Milner.Theholotypewasacid-preparedbyEdward
ANEWAMPHIBAMID GENUS (AMPHIBIA: TEMNOSPONDYLI)
ABBREVIATIONS
Used in figures: S septomaxilla
SQ squamosal
F frontal
ST supratemporal
J jugal
L lacrimal T tabular
MX V vomer
maxilla
N nasal Institutionalacronymsarethefollowing:Ameri-
P parietal can Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Field
PA palatine MuseumofNaturalHistory, UniversityofChicago
PF postfrontal (FMNHUCorUR),EmporiaStateUniversity(HQ),
PM premaxilla MuseumofNaturalHistory,TheUniversityofKan-
PO postorbital sas (KUVP), Museum of Comparative Zoology
PP postparietal (MCZ), University of California at Los Angeles
PR prefrontal (UCLA VP), United States National Museum of
Q quadrate Natural History (USNM), and Yale Peabody Mu-
QJ quadratojugal seum (YPM).
SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY
Class Amphibia
Order Temnospondyli
Superfamily Dissorophoidea
Family Amphibamidae
—
Type genus. Amphibamus Cope 1865. combinationPelionlyelliwascreatedbyCope(1868)
Revised diagnosis.—Dissorophoid temno- for Wyman's (1858) Raniceps lyelli because the
generic name was preoccupied, and he created the
spondyls, distinguished as follows:
familynamesoonafter.PelionCope 1868isajunior
1. Pleurocentra extend ventrally to meet, homonym ofPelion Kirby 1858. According toAr-
oralmostmeet, below the notochord; ticle 39 ofthe Code, afamily name is invalidifthe
2. Ribs shortposteriorto the shoulderre- name of its type genus is a junior homonym, so
gion, such that the rib series lacks a Peliontidae should be replaced. The family name
thoracic basket. Amphibamidae Moodie 1910 is used instead.
In addition to these apomorphic characters, a
constellationofprimitiveonesisusuallypresent,as Eoscopus, new genus
follows: small external nares, stapedial foramen,
—
moveable basal articulation of the braincase, iliac Etymology. From Greek eo "dawn" and sko-
bladescurvingposteriorly,overlappingbonyscales. pos "watcher."
—
The shortribs ofamphibamids aredistinctfrom Diagnosis. Amphibamid dissorophoid with a
thoseoftrematopidsinthattheyarenotflattenedor relatively narrow interorbital bridge; eight pairs of
overlappinginthethoracicregion(Williston, 1909; shoulderribsthatbeginontheaxis,withthefirstfive
Case, 1911). The reduced axial rib pair of bran- pairs more robust; a single spatulate pair ofsacral
chiosaurs (Boy, 1978—) is absent in amphibamids. ribs; a deep contact between pelvis halves for the
Taxonomicnote. PeliontidaeCope 1875isthe anterior two thirds of their length, followed by an
oldestfamilyname attachedtothe type genus. The interdigitation; terminal phalanges knobbed.
UNIV. KANSAS MUS. NAT. HIST. MISC. PUB. No. 85
Eoscopus lockardi, new species
Named in honorofWalterLockard.
Diagnosis as above.
—
Taxonomic note. This name was
published in Daly (1976) without a taxo-
nomic description, thereby creating a
nomen nudum. The correct date ofpubli-
cation is there—fore that ofthis paper.
Holotype KUVP 80408. Skull and
anterior vertebrae, part and counterpart
(Fig. 2).
—
Paratypes. Listed below. All skulls
are dorsoventrally flattened and split
throughthedorsalbonesunlessotherwise
indicated.
KUVP47270. Posteriordorsalpart ofa
skull andalongseriesofvertebrae.
KUVP47272.Skullfragment,including
a set of circumorbital bones and a
palpebralcup.
KUVP 49491. Presacral vertebral col-
umn,pelvis, and femur.
KUVP50000. Premaxillaandmaxilla.
KUVP 80409. Skull and anterior verte-
brae.
KUVP80411. Skull, presacral vertebral
column,girdles, andfemora.
KUVP 80412. Posterior part of whole
animal,withtailandlowerpartofone
legmissing.
KUVP 80413. Skull, part and counter-
part.
HQ 14.Partialskull,includingorbitsand
anteriorportion.
HQ
15.Partialskull,lackingpartofright
side.
HQ 122A-B. Skull and anterior verte-
brae,partandcounterpart.
HQ 123A-B. Pelvis and one hind leg,
partandcounterpart.
HQ 127. Halfpelvisandonehindleg.
HQ247.Pelvisofyoungindividual(pu-
bes lacking).
HQ 250A-B, D-I. A largely complete
specimen, preserved in the round.
Mostoftheskullandtailaremissing, Fig. 2. Eoscopus lockardi, gen. et sp. nov. The holotype, part
as well as the distal part ofone hind and counterpart, x 1.5. KUVP 80408A is at the top and KUVP
leg,theinterclavicle, andcleithrum. 80408B isatthebottom.
HQ252.Thisspecimenisthecounterpart
ofKUVP80412.