Ruta, Marcello and Clack, Jennifer A. (2006) A review of Silvanerpeton miripedes, a stem amniote from the Lower Carboniferous of East Kirkton, West Lothian, Scotland. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences, 97 (1). pp. 31-63. ISSN 1755-6910

PDF Silvanerpeton.pdf - Whole Document Restricted to Repository staff only Download (3181Kb)

Abstract

Previously described and new specimens of the anthracosaur Silvanerpeton miripedes from the Scottish Vise´an of East Kirkton yield important new data which allow us to provide a more complete reconstruction of the skull roof, palate, braincase and lower jaw. A stout sacral rib and an incompletely ossified tarsus with a subquadrangular intermedium are also recorded for the first time. A remarkably well preserved humerus in extensor view shows similarities with humeri of immature specimens of the embolomere Proterogyrinus. A new cladistic analysis, built from combining characters used in two recent matrices, places Silvanerpeton in a basal position relative to embolomeres and more derived stem amniotes. Data from Silvanerpeton inform character polarity near the base of the amniote total group. We discuss some morphofunctional implications of character changes at the root of total group amniotes, acquisition of terrestrial habits, and patterns of early disparity in this clade.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Previously described and new specimens of the anthracosaur Silvanerpeton miripedes from the Scottish Vise´an of East Kirkton yield important new data which allow us to provide a more complete reconstruction of the skull roof, palate, braincase and lower jaw. A stout sacral rib and an incompletely ossified tarsus with a subquadrangular intermedium are also recorded for the first time. A remarkably well preserved humerus in extensor view shows similarities with humeri of immature specimens of the embolomere Proterogyrinus. A new cladistic analysis, built from combining characters used in two recent matrices, places Silvanerpeton in a basal position relative to embolomeres and more derived stem amniotes. Data from Silvanerpeton inform character polarity near the base of the amniote total group. We discuss some morphofunctional implications of character changes at the root of total group amniotes, acquisition of terrestrial habits, and patterns of early disparity in this clade.
Keywords:	anthracosaurs, basal stem amniotes, phylogeny, postcranium, skull
Subjects:	C Biological Sciences > C300 Zoology C Biological Sciences > C182 Evolution F Physical Sciences > F641 Palaeontology
Divisions:	College of Sciences > Faculty of Science > School of Life Sciences
Depositing User:	Marcello Ruta
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2012 16:56
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2013 09:15
URI:	http://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/6380

Actions (login required)

View Item