A basal aistopod from the earliest Pennsylvanian of Canada, and the antiquity of the first limbless tetrapod lineage.

ABSTRACT: Earliest Pennsylvanian (Bashkirian) vertebrate fossil assemblages of the Joggins Formation (Cumberland Group) of Nova Scotia, Canada, have long been noted for the unique representation of the earliest known crown amniotes, but the overall vertebrate fauna remains poorly understood. The vast majority of Joggins vertebrates have historically been assigned to the Microsauria, a group originally established by Dawson specifically to accommodate the abundant, diminutive fossils of the Joggins Formation. As the Microsauria concept has evolved, some Joggins taxa (e.g. the eureptile Hylonomus lyelli) have been removed from the group, but many of the Joggins 'microsaurs' remain unrevised, obscuring the true diversity of the earliest Pennsylvanian tetrapod fauna. Here we amend part of this pr

SUBMITTER: Pardo JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6304130 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature