{{Short description|Extinct genus of amphibians}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Temporal range|Late Triassic}} | image = | taxon = Latiscopus | authority = Wilson, 1948 | type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Latiscopus disjunctus''''' | type_species_authority = Wilson, 1948 | subdivision_ranks = | subdivision = }}
'''''Latiscopus disjunctus''''' is a small [[Late Triassic]] [[Temnospondyli|temnospondyl]] collected in 1940 by a Works Projects Administration crew working near Otis Chalk, Texas that was described by John Wilson in 1948.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Wilson|first=John|date=1948|title=A small amphibian from the Triassic of Howard County|journal=Journal of Paleontology|volume=22|issue=3|pages=359–361|jstor=1299405}}</ref>
== Description == The holotype and only known specimen consists of a largely complete skull that was unfortunately overprepared, removing many of the surficial details; the specimen is reposited at the [[Texas Memorial Museum]]. Wilson provided a short description of features that he could observe, remarking on its distinction from the much larger, aquatic temnospondyls found in the Late Triassic and referred the taxon to a new family, the [[Latiscopidae]]. He placed this family within the [[Stereospondyli]] based on a few aspects of the palate and the absence of rhachitomous temnospondyls in the [[Dockum Group]]. He considered it somewhat similar to the [[Trematosauridae]] based on the relatively long and narrow skull but remarked that ''Latiscopus'' was probably not aquatic based on the laterally facing orbits. Subsequent authors proposed various affinities, including to [[Rhytidosteidae|rhytidosteids]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cosgriff|first=John W.|date=1965|title=A new genus of Temnospondyli from the Triassic of Western Australia|journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia|volume=48|pages=65–90}}</ref> with ''[[Almasaurus|Almasaurus habbazi]],''<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Cosgriff|first=John W.|last2=Zawiskie|first2=John M.|date=1979|title=A new species of the Rhytidosteidae from the Lystrosaurus zone and a review of the Rhytidosteioidea|journal=Palaeontologia Africana|volume=22|pages=1–27}}</ref> another small temnospondyl from the Late Triassic of disputed phylogenetic affinities, and to [[Trematosaurus|trematosaurs]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Warren|first=Anne|last2=Black|first2=Trevor|date=1985|title=A new rhytidosteid (Amphibia, Labyrinthodontia) from the Early Triassic Arcadia Formation of Queensland, Australia, and the relationships of Triassic temnospondyls|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|language=en|volume=5|issue=4|pages=303–327|doi=10.1080/02724634.1985.10011868|issn=0272-4634}}</ref> Because of its poor condition, ''Latiscopus'' has never been analyzed in a phylogenetic analysis, but ''Almasaurus'', which is sometimes placed within the Latiscopidae, is typically recovered as a trematosaur.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schoch|first=Rainer R.|date=2008-01-22|title=A new stereospondyl from the German Middle Triassic, and the origin of the Metoposauridae|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=152|issue=1|pages=79–113|doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2007.00363.x|issn=0024-4082|doi-access=free|url=https://zenodo.org/records/5446990/files/source.pdf}}</ref>
''Latiscopus'' was re-examined as part of the description of the morphologically similar ''[[Rileymillerus]]'' from the Late Triassic of Texas.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Bolt|first=John R.|last2=Chatterjee|first2=Sankar|date=2000|title=A new temnospondyl amphibian from the Late Triassic of Texas|journal=Journal of Paleontology|language=en|volume=74|issue=4|pages=670–683|doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2000)074<0670:ANTAFT>2.0.CO;2|issn=0022-3360}}</ref> Bolt & Chatterjee amended many of the statements made by Wilson, frequently noting that claims about the anatomy could not be verified or were erroneous. They concluded that the specimen was too poorly preserved in its current state to be properly comparable to other temnospondyls and designated it as a ''nomen dubium.''<ref name=":0" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Trematosauria|M.}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q56326831}}
[[Category:Triassic temnospondyls of North America]] [[Category:Amphibians described in 1948]]