[caption id="attachment_6963" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Sherri DeFauw's temnospondyl reconstructions from 1989 (DeFauw 1989). Some of them might be inaccurate (the trematosaurid, for example, should probably be longer-bodied and longer-tailed), but how many times has this sort of thing been done before? Not nearly enough."] [/caption]Time for a quick look at another temnospondyl group. Today, we focus on the tupilakosaurids, a group of short-limbed, blunt-skulled, long-bodied Permo-Triassic temnos. Ossified ceratobranchials, poorly ossified limbs and long and flexible bodies all suggest that they were fully aquatic though - like some other aquatic temnospondyl groups - their bones lack lateral line sulci. Distinctive features of this group include a unique pterygoid incisure on the palate (a V-shaped notch adjacent to the braincase) and a cranial bone configuration that involves large prefrontals, small postfrontals and large postorbitals. None were very big, with total lengths of 20-40 cm. [More]














Source: The confusing diplospondylous tupilakosaurids