Trematosauria

Trematosauria
Temporal range: Early Triassic - Early Cretaceous,
Skeleton of Anaschisma in the American Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Temnospondyli
Suborder: Stereospondyli
Clade: Trematosauria
Yates and Warren, 2000
Clades

Trematosauria is one of two major groups of temnospondyl amphibians that survived the Permian-Triassic extinction event, the other (according to Yates and Warren 2000) being the Capitosauria. The trematosaurs were a diverse and important group that included many medium-sized to large forms that were semi-aquatic to fully aquatic. The group included long-snouted forms such as the trematosauroids and short, broad-headed forms such as the metoposaurs. Although most groups did not survive beyond the Triassic, one lineage, the brachyopoids, continued until the Cretaceous period. Trematosauria is defined as all stereospondyls more closely related to Trematosaurus than to Parotosuchus, a capitosaurian.

Classification

Phylogeny

Cladogram after Yates and Warren (2000):

Trematosauria

Trematosauroidea

Metoposauroidea

Plagiosauroidea

Rhytidosteidae

Brachyopidae

Chigutisauridae