Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Discovery of Diadectomorph Tetrapods in the Lower Permian of Eastern Europe

  • Published:
Paleontological Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The systematic position of the bolosaurid Stephanospondylus (Bolosaurus) traati (Tatarinov, 1974) is examined and it is reassigned to the family Diadectidae (Diadectomorpha). This taxon is the first diadectomorph species described from Eastern Europe. The simple shape of the buccal teeth, as well as the pattern of tooth differentiation along the maxilla, indicate the basal position of S. traati within Diadectomorpha and its primitiveness compared to S. pugnax, the type species of genus Stephanospondylus. The Ambedus pussilus Kissel et Reisz, 2004 is excluded from the order Diadectomorpha based on differences in organization of the dental system from the pattern occurred within the order. The similarity of the dental system of Ambedus with that of diadectids is regarded as convergent rather than phylogenetic, so the systematic position of the above genus remains uncertain. The early stages of specialization of the dentition in evolution of the family Diadectidae are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.

Notes

  1. The maxilla CM47677 from Badger Creek locality in Oklahoma (USA) attributed to D. hesperis has at least five teeth at this area (Berman and Sumida, 1995), which raises doubts about the correctness of the species identification of this specimen.

REFERENCES

  1. Berman, D.S. and Sumida, S.S., New cranial material of the rare diadectid Desmatodon hesperis (Diadectomorpha) from the Late Pennsylvanian of Central Colorado, Ann. Carneg. Mus., 1995, vol. 64, pp. 315–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Berman, D.S., Sumida, S.S., and Martens, T., Diadectes (Diadectomorpha: Diadectidae) from the Early Permian of central Germany, with description of a new species, Ann. Carneg. Mus., 1998, vol. 67, pp. 53–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Berman, D.S., Reisz, R.R., Scott, D., et al., Early Permian bipedal reptile, Science, 2000, vol. 290, pp. 969–972.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Berman, D.S., Henrici, A.C., Kissel, R.A., et al., A new diadectid (Diadectomorpha), Orobates pabsti, from the Early Permian of Central Germany, Bull. Carneg. Mus. Natur. Hist., 2004, vol. 35, pp. 1–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Berman, D.S., Reisz, R.R., and Scott, D., Redescription of the skull of Limnoscelis paludis Williston (Diadectomorpha, Limnoscelidae) from the Pennsylvanian of Canon del Cobre, Northern New Mexico, Bull. New Mexico Natur. Hist. Sci. Mus., 2010, vol. 49, pp. 185–210.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bulanov, V.V. and Kovalenko, E.S., Macdougall, M.J., et al., Tooth replacement and reparative dentine formation in the middle Permian bolosaurids of European Russia, Hist. Biol., 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2022.2067752

  7. Case, E.C., Description of the skull of Bolosaurus striatus Cope, Bull. Am. Mus. Natur. Hist., 1907, vol. 23, pp. 653–658.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Case, E.C. and Williston, S.W., A description of the skulls of Diadectes lentus and Animasaurus carinatus, Am. J. Sci., 1912, vol. 33, pp. 339–348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Case, E.C. and Williston, S.W., Description of a nearly complete skeleton of Diasparactus zenos Case, Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ., 1913, vol. 181, pp. 17–35.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cope, E.D., Descriptions of the extinct Batrachia and Reptilia from the Permian formation of Texas, Proc. Am. Phil. Soc., 1878, vol. 17, no. 101, pp. 505–530.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cope, E.D., Second contribution to the history of the Cotylosauria, Proc. Am. Phyl. Soc., 1896, vol. 35, pp. 122–138.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Cope, E.D., A Revision of the Cotylosauria of North America, Washington, DC: Carnegie Inst., 1911.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Ivakhnenko, M.F., New cotilosaurs of the Cis-Urals, Paleontol. Zh., 1973, no. 2, pp. 131–134.

  14. Ivakhnenko, M.F., Early Permian elements of tetrapod assemblages from Eastern Europe, Paleontol. Zh., 1987, no. 2, pp. 102–111.

  15. Ivakhnenko, M.F., Iskopaemye pozvonochnye Rossii i sopredel’nykh stran. Iskopaemye ptitsy i reptilii. Chast’ 1 (Fossil Vertebrates of Russia and Adjacent Countries: Fossil Reptiles and Birds, Part 1), Ivakhnenko, M.F. and Kurochkin, E.N., Eds., Moscow: GEOS, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ivakhnenko, M.F. and Tverdokhlebova, G.I., A revision of Permian bolosauromorphs from Eastern Europe, Paleontol. Zh., 1987, no. 2, pp. 98–106.

  17. Ivakhnenko, M.F., Golubev, V.K., Gubin, Yu.M., et al., Permian and Triassic tetrapods of Eastern Europe, Trudy Paleontol. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, 1997, vol 268, pp. 1–216.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Kissel, R.A., Morphology, phylogeny, and evolution of Diadectidae (Cotylosauria: Diadectomorpha), PhD Thesis, Graduate Department Ecol. Evol. Biol., Univ. Toronto, 2010.

  19. Kissel, R.A. and Reisz, R.R., Ambedus pusillus, new genus, new species, a small diadectid (Tetrapoda: Diadectomorpha) from the Lower Permian of Ohio, with a consideration of diadectomorph phylogeny, Ann. Carneg. Mus., 2004, vol. 73, pp. 197–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. LeBlanc, A.R.H. and Reisz, R.R., Periodontal ligament, cementum, and alveolar bone in the oldest herbivorous tetrapods, and their evolutionary significance, PLOS One, 2013, vol. 8, no. 6, e74697. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074697

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Lewis, G.E. and Vaughn, P.P., Early Permian vertebrates from the Cutler Formation of the Placerville Area, Colorado, U.S. Geol. Surv. Prof. Pap., 1965, no. 503-C, pp. 1–50.

  22. Li, J.L. and Cheng, Z.W., The first discovery of bolosaurs from Upper Permian of China, Vert. Pal. Asiat., 1995, vol. 33, pp. 17–23 [in Chinese with English summary].

    Google Scholar 

  23. Liu, J. and Bever, G.S., The last diadectomorph sheds light on Late Palaeozoic tetrapod biogeography, Biol. Lett., 2015, vol. 11, 20150100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Reisz, R.R., Origin of dental occlusion in tetrapods: Signal for terrestrial vertebrate evolution? J. Exp. Zool., 2006, vol. 306, pp. 261–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Reisz, R.R. and Sues, H.-D., Herbivory in late Paleozoic and Triassic terrestrial vertebrates, in Evolution of Herbivory in Terrestrial Vertebrates, Sues, H.-D., Ed., Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000, pp. 9–42.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Reisz, R.R. and Sutherland, T.E., A diadectid (Tetrapoda, Diadectomorpha) from the Lower Permian fissure fills of the Dolese Quarry, near Richards Spur, Oklahoma, Ann. Carneg. Mus., 2001, vol. 70, no. 2, pp. 133–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Reisz, R.R., Barkas, V., and Scott, D., A new Early Permian bolosaurid reptile from the Richards Spur Dolese Brothers Quarry, near Fort Sill, Oklahoma, J. Vertebr. Paleontol., 2002, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 23–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Reisz, R.R., Müller, J., Tsuji, L., and Scott, D., The cranial osteology of Belebey vegrandis (Parareptilia: Bolosauridae), from the Middle Permian of Russia, and its bearing on reptilian evolution, Zool. J. Linn. Soc., 2007, vol. 151, pp. 191–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Romer, A.S., Permian amphibian and reptilian remains described as Stephanospondylus, J. Geol., 1925, vol. 33, pp. 447–467.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Romer, A.S., The primitive reptile Limnoscelis restudies, Am. J. Sci., 1946, vol. 244, no. 3, pp. 149–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Romer, A.S., Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian vertebrates of the Pittsburg-West Virginia Region, Ann. Carneg. Mus., 1952, vol. 33, pp. 47–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Snyder, A.J., LeBlanc, A.R.H., Jun, C., et al., Thecodont tooth attachment and replacement in bolosaurid parareptiles, PeerJ, 2020, vol. 8, e9168. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9168

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Stappenbeck, R., Über Stephanospondylus n. g. und Phanerosaurus H. v. Meyer, Z. Dtsch. Geol. Ges., 1905, vol. 57, pp. 380–437.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Tatarinov, L.P., Discovery of a bolosaur in the Lower Permian of the USSR, Paleontol. Zh., 1974, no. 2, pp. 144–146.

  35. Tatarinov, L.P., Discovery of a primitive tailed amphibian in the Upper Permian of the Volga Region, in Verkhnepaleozoiskie i mezozoiskie zemnovodnye i presmykayushchiesya (Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic Amphibians and Reptiles), Moscow: Nauka, 1968, pp. 7–10.

  36. Vaughn, P.P., Vertebrates from the Organ Rock Shale of the Cutler Group, Permian, Monument Valley and vicinity, Utah and Arizona, J. Paleontol., 1964, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 567–583.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Vaughn, P.P., Upper Pennsylvanian vertebrates from the Sangre de Cristo Formation of central Colorado, Contrib. Sci. Los Angeles Cty Mus. Nat. Hist., 1969, vol. 164, pp. 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Vaughn, P.P., More vertebrates, including a new microsaur, from the Upper Pennsylvanian of Central Colorado, Contrib. Sci., 1972, no. 223, pp. 1–30.

  39. Watson, D.M.S., On Bolosaurus and the origin and classification of reptiles, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 1954, vol. 111, pp. 297–449.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Williston, S.W., A new family of reptiles from the Permian of New Mexico, Am. J. Sci., 1911, vol. 4, no. 31, pp. 378–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and DFG within the framework of the project no. 20-54-12013 NNIO-a, and by of Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 21-54-10003 KO-a).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117647, Moscow, Russia

    V. V. Bulanov

Authors
  1. V. V. Bulanov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. V. Bulanov.

Ethics declarations

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Translated by D. Voroshchuk

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bulanov, V.V. The Discovery of Diadectomorph Tetrapods in the Lower Permian of Eastern Europe. Paleontol. J. 57, 206–216 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030123020065

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030123020065

Keywords:

Search

Navigation