6533b833fe1ef96bd129ca82

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The temnospondyl amphibian Cyclotosaurus from the Upper Triassic of Poland

Tomasz SulejD. Majer

subject

AmphibianParacyclotosaurusbiologyPectoral girdleSkull roofPaleontologyMetoposaurusbiology.organism_classificationPaleontologySkullmedicine.anatomical_structureGenusbiology.animalmedicineCyclotosaurusEcology Evolution Behavior and SystematicsGeology

description

A gap in the Late Triassic fossil record of the capitosaur amphibian Cyclotosaurus is filled by new material from lacustrine deposits at Krasiejow, Poland, corresponding in age to the Lehrberg Beds (late Carnian) of Germany. The skull of the Polish cyclotosaur is intermediate in several respects between that of Cyclotosaurus robustus from the middle Carnian Schilfsandstein of Germany and the younger C. mordax from the early Norian Stubensandstein. It shows a decrease in the width of the skull and in the degree of con- cavity of the posterior margin of the skull roof. The differ- ences are significant enough to warrant erection of a novel species, the name Cyclotosaurus intermedius sp. nov. being proposed. The pectoral girdle, identified for the first time in Cyclotosaurus, suggests the genus was more fully adapted to an aquatic mode of life than was Paracyclotosaurus.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2004.00430.x