The amphibamidMicropholisfrom the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of South africa

Character distribution and phylogeny of the dissorophid temnospondyls

“…(1) Ecolsonia has been variously found to nest with trematopids or dissorophids (Schoch & Rubidge 2005;Anderson et al 2008;Berman et al 2010). In the present analysis, it always nests with trematopids, in various permutations with Fedexia and the other trematopids.…”

“…The monophyletic status of the Dissorophoidea has not been questioned since Bolt (1969), and there is a broad consensus in the recent literature (Boy 1972;Daly 1994;Schoch & Rubidge 2005;Ruta & Bolt 2006;Fraebisch & Reisz 2008;Anderson et al 2008;Fraebisch & Schoch 2009;Polley & Reisz 2011). In turn, the relationships of dissorophoids to other temnospondyls are still very inadequately understood (Schoch in press).…”

“…Although there is a rather implicit idea about what a dissorophid is (Berman et al 1985), taxa keep floating around between the Dissorophidae and Trematopidae in recent phylogenetic analyses (Schoch & Rubidge 2005;Berman et al 2010;Polley & Reisz 2011). In particular, the relationships between the Dissorophidae, Trematopidae, and Amphibamidae form a matter or interest.…”

New specimen of <i>Cacops woehri</i> indicates differences in the ontogenetic trajectories among cacopine dissorophids

“…While branchiosaurids were highly aquatic, amphibamids also include forms that were likely very terrestrial as metamorphosed adults (Schoch, 2009(Schoch, , 2010. Because of their central role in the controversial discussions surrounding the origin of modern amphibians, amphibamids and branchiosaurids have received much attention in the literature during the past 30 years, resulting in a quite detailed understanding of their diversity, biology, and phylogenetic relationships (Anderson and Bolt, 2013;Anderson et al, 2008a;Bourget and Anderson, 2011;Boy, 1972Boy, , 1986Boy, , 1987Boy and Sues, 2000;Fröbisch and Reisz, 2008;Fröbisch and Schoch, 2009;Huttenlocker et al, 2007;Schoch, 2004;Schoch and Milner, 2008;Schoch and Rubidge, 2005;Werneburg, 2001Werneburg, , 2002Werneburg, , 2003. Unlike the small Xerodromes, olsoniforms are represented by rather large forms, some of which were heavily armored.…”

The largest specimen ofApateonand the life history pathway of neoteny in the Paleozoic temnospondyl family Branchiosauridae

“…In a closely related group of small dissorophoid amphibians, the terrestrial Amphibamidae, carpals and tarsals are frequently ossified (e.g. Daly 1994;Schoch & Rubidge 2005;Anderson et al 2008) and it seems likely that the mesopodial region of metamorphosed branchiosaurids ossified as well. In comparison, the low degree of ossification and the lack of distinct processes and pronounced muscle attachment areas in the limb elements of specimen GPIM-N-9u contrasts strongly with the condition found in the metamorphs of A. gracilis.…”