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 piscivores in lakes and rivers, the Capitosauria and its sister taxon Trematosauria were the only major labyrinthodonts that existed during the Mesozoic in ecological niches broadly similar to those of modern crocodiles, and some grew to very large sizes. At 6 meters in length, the Mid-Triassic ''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