Extinct genus of temnospondyl from the early Triassic
Broomistega
Temporal range: Early Triassic, 251–249 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
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Skeleton of a juvenile Broomistega putterilli shown in ventral (C) and dorsal (D) views
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Order:
†Temnospondyli
Suborder:
†Stereospondyli
Family:
†Rhinesuchidae
Genus:
†Broomistega Shishkin and Rubidge, 2000
Type species
Lydekkerina putterilli
Broom, 1930
Restoration of an adult Broomistega putterilli
Broomistega is an extinct genus of temnospondyl in the family Rhinesuchidae. It is known from one species, Broomistega putterilli, which was renamed in 2000 from Lydekkerina putterilli Broom 1930. Fossils are known from the Early Triassic Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Basin of present-day South Africa, a region that had been an enclave of Gondwana. Specimens of B. putterilli were once thought to represent young individuals of another larger rhinesuchid such as Uranocentrodon, but the species is now regarded as a paedomorphic taxon, possessing the features of juvenile rhinesuchids into adulthood.[1]
In 2013, a well-preserved skeleton of Broomistega was discovered alongside the skeleton of the cynodont Thrinaxodon (a mammal relative) in a cast of a burrow. The individual probably entered the burrow while the cynodont was in a state of aestivation (dormancy), and afterwards a flash flood filled the burrow with sediment to preserve both bodies together.[2]
^Shishkin, M. A.; Rubidge, B. S. (2000). "A Relict Rhinesuchid (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the Lower Triassic of South Africa". Palaeontology. 43 (4): 653. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00144.
^Fernandez, V.; Abdala, F.; Carlson, K. J.; Cook, D. C.; Rubidge, B. S.; Yates, A.; Tafforeau, P. (2013). Butler, Richard J (ed.). "Synchrotron Reveals Early Triassic Odd Couple: Injured Amphibian and Aestivating Therapsid Share Burrow". PLOS ONE. 8 (6): e64978. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0064978. PMC 3689844. PMID 23805181.
Broomistega is an extinct genus of temnospondyl in the family Rhinesuchidae. It is known from one species, Broomistega putterilli, which was renamed in...
the most likely explanation why this therapsid cynodont Thrinaxodon liorhinus shared its burrow with a temnospondyl amphibian, Broomistega putterilli....
rhinesuchid is known from the early Triassic, a small member known as Broomistega. The most recent formal definition of Rhinesuchidae, advocated by Mariscano...
aestivation purposes. A Thrinaxodon burrow contained an injured temnospondyl, Broomistega. The burrow was scanned using a synchrotron, a tool used to observe the...
record and are predominantly a late Permian clade, with only one species, Broomistega putterilli, from the Early Triassic of South Africa. However, almost...
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