Trematosauroidea

{{Short description|Extinct superfamily of amphibians}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = [[Early Triassic]] - [[Middle Jurassic]], {{Fossil range|247|227|earliest=249.7|latest=161.2}} | image = Trematosaurus1DB.jpg | image_upright = 1.15 | image_caption = ''[[Trematosaurus]]'' | taxon = Trematosauroidea | authority = [[David Meredith Seares Watson|Watson]], 1919 | subdivision_ranks = Families and genera | subdivision = * {{extinct}}''[[Benthosuchus]]'' * {{extinct}}''[[Thoosuchus]]'' * {{extinct}}[[Trematosauridae]] }}

'''Trematosauroidea''' are an important group of [[Triassic]] [[Temnospondyli|temnospondyl]] amphibians. They flourished briefly during the [[Early Triassic]], occurring worldwide before declining at the start of the [[Middle Triassic]], although the group continued until the [[Late Triassic]]. They were medium-sized temnospondyls with wedge-shaped tails, narrow skulls, and, in advanced forms, elongated snouts. The latter feature was probably an adaptation for feeding on fish. The largest and most specialized family, the [[Trematosauridae]], are the only [[Batrachomorpha|batrachomorphs]] to have adapted to a [[Marine (ocean)|marine]] lifestyle with the exception of the modern [[crab-eating frog]].

A temnospondyl [[Ilium (bone)|ilium]] was described in 2004 from the [[Callovian]] [[Toutunhe Formation]] in the [[Junggar Basin]] of [[China]]. Although the isolated bone was impossible to identify on the species level, it was referred to Trematosauroidea. The presence of this bone in the Toutunhe Formation extends the range of trematosauroids into the [[Middle Jurassic]], making it one of only three groups of temnospondyls that survived the [[Triassic-Jurassic extinction event]] (the other two being the [[Brachyopoidea]] and possibly the [[Capitosauria]]).<ref name=MMS04>{{cite journal |last=Maisch |first=M.W. |author2=Matzke, A.T. |author3= Sun, G. |year=2004 |title=A relict trematosauroid (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) from the Middle Jurassic of the Junggar Basin (NW China) |journal=Naturwissenschaften |volume=91 |issue=12 |pages=589–593 |doi=10.1007/s00114-004-0569-x |pmid=15448923|bibcode=2004NW.....91..589M |s2cid=24738999 }}</ref>

==Classification== Below is a [[cladogram]] modified from Schoch (2011):<ref name=SRR11>{{cite journal |last=Schoch |first=R.R. |year=2011 |title=A trematosauroid temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic of Jordan |journal=The Fossil Record |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=119–127 |doi=10.1002/mmng.201100002|bibcode=2011FossR..14..119S |doi-access=free }}</ref>

{{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:85% |label1=[[Stereospondyli]] |1={{clade |1=''[[Uranocentrodon]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Lydekkerina]]'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=[[Rhytidosteidae]] |2={{clade |label1=[[Brachyopomorpha]] |1={{clade |1=''[[Siderops]]'' |2=''[[Batrachosuchus]]''}} |label2=[[Plagiosauroidea]] |2={{clade |1=''[[Laidleria]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Plagiosuchus]]'' |2=''[[Gerrothorax]]''}} }} }} }} |2=[[Capitosauria]] |label3='''Trematosauroidea''' |3={{clade |1=''[[Lyrocephaliscus]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Trematolestes]]'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Inflectosaurus]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Microposaurus]]'' |2=Jordan taxon}} }} |2={{clade |1=''[[Almasaurus]]'' |2=''[[Callistomordax]]'' }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060522101214/http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/160Temnospondyli/400.html Temnospondyli: Trematosauroidea] at [[Palaeos]]

[[Category:Trematosauria]] [[Category:Triassic temnospondyls]] [[Category:Jurassic temnospondyls]] [[Category:Early Triassic first appearances]] [[Category:Middle Jurassic extinctions]]