Comparative 3D analyses and palaeoecology of giant early amphibians (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli).

ABSTRACT: Macroevolutionary, palaeoecological and biomechanical analyses in deep time offer the possibility to decipher the structural constraints, ecomorphological patterns and evolutionary history of extinct groups. Here, 3D comparative biomechanical analyses of the extinct giant early amphibian group of stereospondyls together with living lissamphibians and crocodiles, shows that: i) stereospondyls had peculiar palaeoecological niches with proper bites and stress patterns very different than those of giant salamanders and crocodiles; ii) their extinction may be correlated with the appearance of neosuchians, which display morphofunctional innovations. Stereospondyls weathered the end-Permian mass extinction, re-radiated, acquired gigantic sizes and dominated (semi) aquatic ecosystems during the Tr

SUBMITTER: Fortuny J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4960601 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature