# Lapillopsis

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Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Lapillopsis Temporal range: Early Triassic, ~251–247 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Restoration of Lapillopsis nana Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Clade: Tetrapoda Order: †Temnospondyli Suborder: †Stereospondyli Family: †Lapillopsidae Genus: †Lapillopsis Warren and Hutchinson, 1990 Type species †Lapillopsis nana Warren and Hutchinson, 1990

***Lapillopsis*** is an extinct [genus](/source/Genus) of [stereospondyl](/source/Stereospondyl) [temnospondyl](/source/Temnospondyl) within the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Lapillopsidae](/source/Lapillopsidae). [Fossils](/source/Fossil) belonging to the genus have been found in the [Arcadia Formation](/source/Arcadia_Formation_(Australia)) ([Rewan Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rewan_Group&action=edit&redlink=1)) of [Queensland](/source/Queensland), [Australia](/source/Australia).

## History of study

The [type species](/source/Type_species) and only known species is *Lapillopsis nana,* named in 1990 by Australian scientists Anne Warren and Mark Hutchinson.[1] The name is derived from the Latin *lapillus* (pebble) and Greek -*opsis* (appearance) in reference to the material of this species being collected from within small rocky nodules. There are two known specimens, both nearly complete skulls with associated mandibles and associated postcranial elements. An additional fourteen specimens from the same locality were described by Australian paleontologist Adam Yates in 1999.[2]

## Anatomy

Holotype skull of *L. nana* (specimen QM F12284)

*Lapillopsis* was differentiated from the closely related *[Rotaurisaurus](/source/Rotaurisaurus)* from Australia by several features: (1) a deep, semi-elliptical otic notch; (2) an abbreviated posterior skull table; (3) a broad shallow sulcus extending from the posterolateral corner of the quadratojugal to the posterior orbital margin; (4) a broadly flared anterior end of the cultriform process; (5) pterygoid-palatine separation, resulting in an ectopterygoid framing the interpterygoid vacuity; (6) jugal terminating at anterior orbital margin.[2] The skull and mandible are particularly well-known, permitting a more or less complete reconstruction. Postcranial material consists largely of the pectoral and forelimb regions and a few vertebrae.

## Phylogenetic relationships

When it was named, *Lapillopsis* was identified as a [micropholid](/source/Micropholidae) [dissorophoid](/source/Dissorophoidea); dissorophoids are almost exclusively [Paleozoic](/source/Paleozoic) in occurrence with the exception of *[Micropholis](/source/Micropholis_(amphibian))* from the [Early Triassic](/source/Early_Triassic) [Karoo Basin](/source/Karoo_Basin) of [South Africa](/source/South_Africa). Because computer-assisted phylogenetics were not widely available at the time, the authors made comparisons of distinctive features with those known in other clades and found many similarities with dissorophoids. At the time, dissorophoid systematics remained partially in flux, particularly as it related to several small-bodied terrestrial forms, and Warren and Hutchinson revived Micropholidae, originally created by Watson (1919), to encompass both *Micropholis* and *Lapillopsis,*[3] while noting that the latter lacked several apomorphies of Dissorophoidea.

Yates' (1999) description of additional material of *Lapillopsis* and the new taxon *Rotaurisaurus* led him to create the family Lapillopsidae for this unusual group of small-bodied stereospondyls. Yates' phylogenetic analysis, as well as that of Yates & Warren (2000),[4] recovered lapillopsids at the base of Stereospondyli. A supertree analysis by Ruta et al. (2003)[5] recovered them in a vastly different position, as the sister group to eryopoids, dissorophoids (inclusive of modern amphibians), and zatracheidids.

*Lapillopsis* was found as the sister to *Rotaurisaurus* in a 1999 analysis that found the [Lapillopsidae](/source/Lapillopsidae) as basal stereospondyls.[2] The most recent analysis of stereospondylomorphs by Eltink et al. (2019)[6] recovered *Lapillopsis* within [Lydekkerinidae](/source/Lydekkerinidae), another small-bodied Early Triassic group, as the sister taxon of *[Lydekkerina](/source/Lydekkerina),* somewhat similar to the results of McHugh's 2012 dissertation.[7] This is in contradiction to previous studies in which *Lapillopsis* has been recovered: outside of Lydekkerinidae but as its sister group,[8] with dissorophoids,[9][10] as the sister taxon of short-snouted stereospondyl clades like lydekkerinids and metoposaurids,[11] or closely related to brachyopoids.[12] There is a general consensus that lapillopsids are at least stereospondylomorphs if not stereospondyls proper, but there is no clear agreement beyond that. Previous workers have highlighted the potential that specimens may not represent adults[2] or that diminished body size may cause attraction with other small-bodied taxa, like lydekkerinids, in an analysis.[6]

## See also

- [Paleontology portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Paleontology)

- [List of prehistoric amphibians](/source/List_of_prehistoric_amphibians)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-WH90_1-0)** Warren, A. A.; Hutchinson, M. N. (1990). "*Lapillopsis*, a new genus of temnospondyl amphibians from the Early Triassic of Queensland". *Alcheringa*. **14** (2): 149–158. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/03115519008527816](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F03115519008527816).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-:0_2-3) Yates, A. M. 1999. The Lapillopsidae: a new family of small temnospondyls from the Early Triassic of Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19: 302-320. [https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.1999.10011143](https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.1999.10011143)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["I. The structure, evolution and origin of the amphibia. - The "orders' rachitomi and stereospondyli"](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frstb.1920.0001). *Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing Papers of a Biological Character*. **209** (360–371): 1–73. 1920-01-01. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1098/rstb.1920.0001](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frstb.1920.0001). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0264-3960](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0264-3960).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Yates, Adam M.; Warren, A. Anne (January 2000). ["The phylogeny of the 'higher' temnospondyls (Vertebrata: Choanata) and its implications for the monophyly and origins of the Stereospondyli"](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1096-3642.2000.tb00650.x). *Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society*. **128** (1): 77–121. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1096-3642.2000.tb00650.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1096-3642.2000.tb00650.x). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0024-4082](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0024-4082).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Ruta, Marcello; Jeffery, Jonathan E.; Coates, Michael I. (2003-12-07). ["A supertree of early tetrapods"](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691537). *Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences*. **270** (1532): 2507–2516. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1098/rspb.2003.2524](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frspb.2003.2524). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0962-8452](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0962-8452). [PMC](/source/PMC_(identifier)) [1691537](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691537). [PMID](/source/PMID_(identifier)) [14667343](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14667343).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_6-1) Eltink, Estevan; Schoch, Rainer R.; Langer, Max C. (2019-04-16). "Interrelationships, palaeobiogeography and early evolution of Stereospondylomorpha (Tetrapoda: Temnospondyli)". *Journal of Iberian Geology*. **45** (2): 251–267. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/s41513-019-00105-z](https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs41513-019-00105-z). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1698-6180](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1698-6180). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [146595773](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:146595773).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** McHugh, Julia (2012). [*Temnospondyl ontogeny and phylogeny, a window into terrestrial ecosystems during the Permian-Triassic mass extinction*](https://web.archive.org/web/20171001230952/http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3089&context=etd). University of Iowa. Archived from [the original](https://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3089&context=etd) on October 1, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Dias-da-Silva, Sergio; Hewison, Robin H. (2013). "Phylogenetic Analysis and Palaeobiogeography of the Pangaean Lower Triassic Lydekkerinidae (Temnospondyli, Stereospondyli)". *73rd Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Abstracts*: 116.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Schoch, Rainer R. (2013). "The evolution of major temnospondyl clades: an inclusive phylogenetic analysis". *Journal of Systematic Palaeontology*. **11** (6): 673–705. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/14772019.2012.699006](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F14772019.2012.699006). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [1477-2019](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/1477-2019). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [83906628](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:83906628).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Pardo, J. D., Small, B. J., Huttenlocker, A. K. 2017. Stem caecilian from the Triassic of Colorado sheds light on the origins of Lissamphibia. PNAS. [https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706752114](https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706752114)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Maganuco, Simone; Pasini, Giovanni (2009). "A new specimen of trematosaurian temnospondyl from the Lower Triassic of NW Madagascar, with remarks on palatal anatomy and taxonomic affinities". *Atti Soc. It. Sci. Nat. Museo Civ. Stor. Nat. Milano*. **150**: 91–112.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Marsicano, Claudia A.; Latimer, Elizabeth; Rubidge, Bruce; Smith, Roger M.H. (2017-05-29). "The Rhinesuchidae and early history of the Stereospondyli (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) at the end of the Palaeozoic". *Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society*. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/zoolinnean/zlw032](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fzoolinnean%2Fzlw032). [hdl](/source/Hdl_(identifier)):[11336/105150](https://hdl.handle.net/11336%2F105150). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0024-4082](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0024-4082).

v t e Stereospondyli Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Clade: Tetrapodomorpha Order: Temnospondyli Tetrapodomorpha see Tetrapodomorpha Temnospondyli see Temnospondyli Stereospondyli see below↓ Stereospondyli Stereospondyli Arachana Capulomala Peltobatrachus Lapillopsidae Lapillopsis Manubrantlia Rhigerpeton Rotaurisaurus Rhinesuchidae Australerpeton? Broomistega Laccosaurus Parapytanga? Rastosuchus Rhineceps Rhinesuchoides Rhinesuchus Uranocentrodon Lydekkerinidae Chomatobatrachus Cryobatrachus Deltacephalus Eolydekkerina Indobenthosuchus Luzocephalus? Lydekkerina Capitosauria Antarctosuchus Bukobaja Calmasuchus Capitosaurus Cherninia Cyclotosaurus Edingerella Eocyclotosaurus Eryosuchus Heptasaurus Huangfuchuansuchus Jammerbergia Kestrosaurus Kupferzellia Mastodonsaurus Meyerosuchus Odenwaldia Paracyclotosaurus Parotosuchus Quasicyclotosaurus Procyclotosaurus Promastodonsaurus Rhadalognathus Samarabatrachus Sassenisaurus Sclerothorax Selenocara Stanocephalosaurus Stenotosaurus Subcyclotosaurus Tatrasuchus Vladlenosaurus Volgasaurus Volgasuchus Warrenisuchus Watsonisuchus Wellesaurus Wetlugasaurus Xenotosuchus Yuanansuchus Trematosauria see below↓ Trematosauria Trematosauria Almasaurus Bothriceps Callistomordax Chinlestegophis Keratobrachyops Laidleria Latiscopus Qantas Rileymillerus Syrtosuchus Uruyiella Benthosuchidae Benthosuchus Kwatisuchus Trematosauridae Angusaurus Aphaneramma Cosgriffius Erythrobatrachus Gonioglyptus Hyperokynodon Icanosaurus Indolyrocephalus Inflectosaurus Lyrocephaliscus Microposaurus Panchetosaurus Platystega Prothoosuchus Stoschiosaurus Tertrema Tertremoides Thoosuchus Tirraturhinus Trematolestes Trematosuchoides Trematosaurus Trematosuchus Trematotegmen Wantzosaurus Metoposauridae Anaschisma Apachesaurus Arganasaurus Buettnererpeton Dutuitosaurus Metoposaurus Panthasaurus Rhytidosteidae Boreopelta Mahavisaurus Nanolania Peltostega Pneumatostega Rhytidosteus Sangaia Trucheosaurus Derwentiinae Arcadia Acerastia Deltasaurus Derwentia Indobrachyops Rewana Chigutisauridae Arenaerpeton Chigutisaurus Compsocerops Koolasuchus Pelorocephalus Siderops Brachyopidae Banksiops Bathignathus Batrachosaurus Batrachosuchoides Batrachosuchus Blinasaurus Brachyops Gobiops Hadrokkosaurus Notobrachyops Platycepsion Sinobrachyops Vanastega Vigilius Xenobrachyops Plagiosauridae Gerrothorax Megalophthalma Plagiobatrachus Plagiorophus Plagiosaurus Plagioscutum Plagiosternum Plagiosuchus See also: Trematosauroidea Metoposauroidea Rhytidosteoidea Brachyopomorpha Brachyopoidea Plagiosauroidea Category

Taxon identifiers Lapillopsis Wikidata: Q15051787 GBIF: 4817237 IRMNG: 1377586 Paleobiology Database: 150340

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Lapillopsis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapillopsis) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapillopsis?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.