Calamops is Really a Trematosaur

Anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Calamops paludosus (Temnospondyli, Stereospondyli) from the Triassic of the Newark Basin, Pennsylvania

Authors:

1. Hans-Dieter Sues (a)
2. Rainer R. Schoch (b)

Affiliations:

a. Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History , MRC 121, Smithsonian Institution , P.O. Box 37012, Washington , D.C. , 20013-7012 , U.S.A.

b. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart , Rosenstein 1, D-70191 , Stuttgart , Germany

Abstract:

The holotype of the large temnospondyl Calamops paludosus is the oldest known tetrapod fossil from the Triassic of the Newark basin in Pennsylvania. Although it is usually placed in Metoposauridae, its affinities have remained unknown since its original description because the unique specimen had never been prepared. Preparation and casting of the specimen, which comprises three pieces of a left mandibular ramus, now permits detailed anatomical description of the jaw and assessment of its affinities. Calamops paludosus is a valid taxon of trematosauroid temnospondyls that can be diagnosed by several autapomorphies. It represents one of the geologically youngest known records of long-snouted trematosaurs and the first record of these temnospondyls from the Late Triassic of North America.