Indobrachyops

{{Short description|Extinct genus of amphibians}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = [[Early Triassic]], {{fossil range|Induan}} | image = Indobrachyops panchetensis.jpg | image_caption = Restoration of ''Indobrachyops panchetensis'' | taxon = Indobrachyops | authority = [[Friedrich von Huene|Von Huene]] and Sahni, [[1958 in paleontology|1958]] | type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Indobrachyops panchetensis''''' | type_species_authority = Von Huene and Sahni, 1958 }}

'''''Indobrachyops''''' is an extinct [[genus]] of [[temnospondyl]] amphibian from the [[Early Triassic]] of India. It is known from a nearly complete fossil skull that was first described by paleontologists [[Friedrich von Huene]] and M. R. Sahni in 1958 from the [[Panchet Formation]] in [[Raniganj Coalfield]].<ref name=DSM11>{{cite journal |last=Dias-da-Silva |first=S. |author2=Marsicano, C. |year=2011 |title=Phylogenetic reappraisal of Rhytidosteidae (Stereospondyli: Trematosauria), temnospondyl amphibians from the Permian and Triassic |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=305–325 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2010.492664|hdl=11336/68471 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> ''Indobrachyops'' belongs to a group of mostly semi-aquatic temnospondyls called [[Stereospondyli]], but its exact placement within the group has been uncertain since its first description.

==Classification== Huene and Sahni considered ''Indobrachyops'' to be part of the family [[Brachyopidae]], which includes several aquatic temnospondyls with large rounded heads. However, later studies noted several features of ''Indobrachyops'' that set it apart from brachyopids, including closely spaced nostrils and a different pattern of pits and grooves on the [[skull roof]]. In 1979, J. W. Cosgriff and J. M. Zawiskie placed ''Indobrachyops'' in a new family called '''Indobrachyopidae''' along with the poorly known temnospondyls ''[[Mahavisaurus]]'' and ''[[Rewana]]''. The [[lacrimal bone]] in the skull is an important feature in classifying stereospondyls, but its presence has been difficult to judge in the single known skull of ''Indobrachyops''. One study suggested that it lacked a lacrimal, which it used as evidence to reclassify ''Indobrachyops'' within the family [[Rhytidosteidae]]. In 1998 paleontologists Anne Warren and Claudia Marsicano proposed that it did have a lacrimal, albeit a very small one that suggested a primitive position for ''Indobrachyops'' within Rhytidosteidae. A [[phylogenetic]] analysis of rhytidosteids by Marsicano and Sérgio Dias-da-Silva in 2011 supported the inclusion of ''Indobrachyops'' within Rhytidosteidae.<ref name=DSM11/> The analysis went against Warren and Marsicano's 1998 findings by placing ''Indobrachyops'' as one of the most [[Synapomorphy|derived]] rhytidosteids. Marsicano and Sérgio Dias-da-Silva classified the genus within a new subfamily of rhytidosteids, [[Derwentiinae]]. Below is a [[cladogram]] from their study:<ref name=DSM11/>

{{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:100% |label1=[[Rhytidosteidae]] |1={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Nanolania]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Trucheosaurus]]'' |2=''[[Laidleria]]''}} }} |2={{clade |1=''[[Boreopelta]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Peltostega]]'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Pneumatostega]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Sangaia]]'' |2=''[[Mahavisaurus]]''}} }} |label2=[[Derwentiinae]] |2={{clade |1=''[[Deltasaurus]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Arcadia (genus)|Arcadia]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Rewana]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Derwentia (amphibian)|Derwentia]]'' |2='''''Indobrachyops''''' }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Stereospondyli]] [[Category:Prehistoric amphibians of Asia]] [[Category:Triassic amphibians of Asia]] [[Category:Taxa named by Friedrich von Huene]] [[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1958]]