Discosauriscus Temporal range: Early Permian |
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Discosauriscus austriacus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
Class: | Amphibia sensu lato |
Order: | Seymouriamorpha |
Family: | Discosauriscidae |
Genus: | Discosauriscus Kuhn, 1933 |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Discosauriscus was a small reptiliomorph that lived in Central and Western Europe in the Lower Permian Period. Its best fossils have been found in Boskovice Furrow, in the Czech Republic.
Discosauriscus belongs in alternative classifications to the order Anthracosauria or Seymouriamorpha, and is the type genus of the family Discosauriscidae. Currently recognised are two valid species - Discosauriscus austriacus and Discosauriscus pulcherrimus. Letoverpeton is a junior synonym of Discosauriscus.[1]
Discosauriscids are only known from larval or neotenic forms,[2] and three ontogenetic stages can be distinguished.[3] Discosauriscus had wide jaws with sharp teeth, short limbs and relatively long tail.[4] The phalangeal formula was 2-3-4-5-3 for both hind- and forelimbs. The body was covered with rounded scales with concentric rings, and a well preserved lateral-line system has been described.[5]
Discosauriscus may have had electroreceptive organs.[6]