Spondylerpeton is an extinct genus of embolomere closely related to "Cricotus"[1] (Archeria) in the family Archeriidae.[2] This genus is known from fragmentary remains, namely a short series of tail vertebrae preserved in an ironstone nodule. These remains were found in the Mazon Creek beds of Illinois, an area famed for its preservation of Carboniferous plants and animals.[3][4] Spondylerpeton individuals were probably about three to four feet in length, by far the largest animals known to have inhabited the Mazon Creek area during this era.[1]

Spondylerpeton
Temporal range: Late Carboniferous, 309–307 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Sarcopterygii
Clade: Tetrapodomorpha
Order: Embolomeri
Family: Archeriidae
Genus: Spondylerpeton
Moodie, 1912
Type species
Spondylerpeton spinatum
Moodie, 1912

References

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  1. ^ a b Moodie, Roy L. (January 1912). "The Pennsylvanic Amphibia of the Mazon Creek, Illinois". The University of Kansas Science Bulletin. 6 (2): 323–359.
  2. ^ Panchen, A.L. (10 June 1977). "On Anthracosaurus russelli Huxley (Amphibia: Labyrinthodontia) and the Family Anthracosauridae". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 279 (968): 447–512. doi:10.1098/rstb.1977.0096.
  3. ^ Moodie, Roy Lee (1916). "The Coal Measures Amphibia of North America". Carnegie Institution of Washington. 238: 1–222.
  4. ^ Romer, Alfred Sherwood (1930). "The Pennsylvanian tetrapods of Linton, Ohio" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 59 (2): 78–147.