Capitosauria

{{Short description|Extinct clade of amphibians}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Capitosauria | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Early Triassic|Late Triassic}} | image = Mastodonsaurus DB.jpg | image_caption = ''[[Mastodonsaurus]]'' | taxon = Capitosauria | authority = Schoch and Milner, 2000 | subdivision_ranks = Subgroups | subdivision = *{{extinct}}''[[Calmasuchus]]'' *{{extinct}}''[[Edingerella]]'' *{{extinct}}''[[Huangfuchuansuchus]]'' *{{extinct}}''[[Samarabatrachus]]'' *{{extinct}}''[[Sclerothorax]]'' *{{extinct}}''[[Vladlenosaurus]]'' *{{extinct}}''[[Warrenisuchus]]'' *{{extinct}}''[[Watsonisuchus]]'' *{{extinct}}[[Mastodonsauroidea]] | synonyms = * Capitosauridae }}

'''Capitosauria''' is an extinct group of large [[temnospondyl]] amphibians with simplified [[stereospondyl]] vertebrae. Mainly living as [[piscivore]]s in lakes and rivers, the Capitosauria and its [[sister taxon]] [[Trematosauria]] were the only major [[labyrinthodont]]s that existed during the [[Mesozoic]] in ecological niches broadly similar to those of modern [[crocodile]]s, and some grew to very large sizes. At 6 meters in length, the Mid-Triassic ''[[Mastodonsaurus|Mastodonsaurus giganteus]]'' is not only thought to have been the largest capitosaur, but possibly also the largest amphibian to have lived.<ref name=Palaeos>{{cite web|title=Capitosauria|url=http://palaeos.com/vertebrates/temnospondyli/capitosauria.html|website=[[Palaeos]]|access-date=18 June 2014}}</ref> The latest known remains are from the [[Rhaetian]] of Germany and are referred to ''[[Cyclotosaurus]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Konietzko-Meier|first1=Dorota|last2=Werner|first2=Jennifer D.|last3=Wintrich|first3=Tanja|last4=Martin Sander|first4=P.|date=31 October 2018|title=A large temnospondyl humerus from the Rhaetian (Late Triassic) of Bonenburg (Westphalia, Germany) and its implications for temnospondyl extinction|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41513-018-0092-0|journal=Journal of Iberian Geology|language=en|volume=45|issue=2|pages=287–300|doi=10.1007/s41513-018-0092-0|s2cid=134049099 |issn=1698-6180|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Capitosauria was first named by Schoch and Milner (2000) and further described by Yates and Warren (2000), who assigned ''[[Lydekkerina]]'' and [[Mastodonsauroidea]] to it.<ref name=SM00>{{cite book |last=Schoch |first=R. R. |author2=Milner, A. R. |editor=P. Wellnhofer|title=Handbuch der Paläoherpetologie |volume=3B |year=2000 |publisher=Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil |location=Munich |pages=203 |chapter=Stereospondyli }}</ref><ref name=YW00>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2000.tb00650.x |last=Yates |first=A. M. |author2=Warren, A. A. |year=2000 |title=The phylogeny of the "higher" temnospondyls (Vertebrata: Choanata) and its implications for the monophyly and origins of Stereospondyli |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=128 |pages=77–121|doi-access=free }}</ref> It was described by Damiani (2001) under the name Mastodonsauroidea.<ref name=DRJ01>{{cite journal |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2001.tb00635.x |last=Damiani |first=R. J. |year=2001 |title=A systematic revision and phylogenetic analysis of Triassic mastodonsauroids (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli) |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=133 |issue=4 |pages=379–482|doi-access=free }}</ref> In their phylogenetic analysis of temnospondyls, Ruta ''et al.'' (2007) placed ''Lydekkerina'' and its relatives within the clade [[Rhytidostea]], while placing only mastodonsauroid taxa within Capitosauria.<ref name=REA07>{{cite journal |doi=10.1098/rspb.2007.1250 |last=Ruta |first=M. |author2=Pisani, D. |author3=Lloyd, G. T. |author4= Benton, M. J. |year=2007 |title=A supertree of Temnospondyli: cladogenetic patterns in the most species-rich group of early tetrapods |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=274 |issue=1629 |pages=3087–3095 |pmid=17925278 |pmc=2293949}}</ref>

==Phylogeny== Below is a [[cladogram]] from Fortuny ''et al.'' (2011) showing the [[phylogenetic]] relationships of capitosaurs:<ref name=FGS11>{{Cite journal | last1 = Fortuny | first1 = J. | last2 = Galobart | first2 = À. | last3 = Santisteban | first3 = C. D. | doi = 10.4202/app.2010.0025 | title = A New Capitosaur from the Middle Triassic of Spain and the Relationships within the Capitosauria | journal = Acta Palaeontologica Polonica | volume = 56 | issue = 3 | pages = 553 | year = 2011 | doi-access = free }}</ref> {{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:85% |label1=[[Stereospondyli]] |1={{clade |1=''[[Lydekkerina huxleyi]]'' |label2=[[Rhinesuchidae]] |2={{clade |1=''[[Rhineceps nyasaensis]]'' |2=''[[Uranocentrodon senekalensis]]''}} |3={{clade |label1='''Capitosauria''' |1={{clade |1=''[[Wetlugasaurus angustifrons]]'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Odenwaldia heidelbergensis]]'' |2=''[[Vladlenosaurus alexeyevi]]''}} |2={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Edingerella madagascariensis]]'' |2=''[[Watsonisuchus]] spp.''}} |2={{clade |1=''[[Xenotosuchus africanus]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Cherninia denwai]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Paracyclotosaurus crookshanki]]'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Stanocephalosaurus pronus]]'' |2=''[[Stanocephalosaurus birdi]]''}} |2={{clade |1=''[[Procyclotosaurus stantonensis]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Eocyclotosaurus]] spp.'' |2=''[[Quasicyclotosaurus campi]]''}} }} }} }} }} }} }} |2={{clade |1=''[[Parotosuchus orenburgensis]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Calmasuchus acri]]'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Cyclotosaurus robustus]]'' |2=''[[Tatrasuchus wildi]]''}} |2={{clade |1=''[[Eryosuchus garjainovi]]'' |2=''[[Mastodonsaurus giganteus]]''}} }} }} }} }} }} }} |label2=[[Trematosauria]] |2={{clade |1=''[[Benthosuchus sushkini]]'' |label2=[[Trematosauroidea]] |2={{clade |1=''[[Thoosuchus yakovlevi]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Angusaurus]] spp.'' |2=''[[Trematosaurus brauni]]'' }} }} }} }} }} }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=150344 Capitosauria] in the [[Paleobiology Database]]

[[Category:Capitosauria| ]] [[Category:Triassic temnospondyls]] [[Category:Triassic first appearances]] [[Category:Triassic extinctions]]