6533b827fe1ef96bd1286fb7

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The earliest tupilakosaurid amphibian with diplospondylous vertebrae from the Late Permian of southern France

subject

description

5 pages; International audience; A well-preserved vertebral column from the Late Permian of Southern France (Lopingian, La Lieude Formation, Lodève Basin) is described. It is composed of diplospondylous vertebrae and is most comparable with the temnospondyl Tupilakosaurus previously known from the Early Triassic of Greenland and Russia. This new specimen therefore represents the earliest occurrence of a diplospondylous tupilakosaur, and extends the geographic range of the group to Western Europe. It is an aquatic temnospondyl that used the anguilliform undulatory mode of swimming.