New specimen of <i>Cacops woehri</i> indicates differences in the ontogenetic trajectories among cacopine dissorophids
The Lower Permian Dolese locality has produced numerous exquisitely preserved tetrapod fossils representing members of a lower Permian upland fauna. Therein, at least nine taxa of the clade Dissorophoidea, ranging in size from the large predaceous trematopid <i>Acheloma</i> to the miniat...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pensoft Publishers
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Fossil Record |
| Online Access: | http://www.foss-rec.net/18/73/2015/fr-18-73-2015.pdf |
| Summary: | The Lower Permian Dolese locality has produced numerous
exquisitely preserved tetrapod fossils representing members of a
lower
Permian upland fauna. Therein, at least nine taxa of the clade
Dissorophoidea, ranging in size from the large predaceous trematopid
<i>Acheloma</i> to the miniaturized amphibamid <i>Doleserpeton</i>, highlight the great taxic and ecological
diversity of this anamniote clade. Here we describe a large specimen of the
dissorophid <i>Cacops woehri</i>, which was previously only known from the juvenile or subadult
holotype skull. Another member of the genus <i>Cacops</i> present at the Dolese locality,
<i>Cacops morrisi</i>, is also represented by specimens spanning juvenile, subadult, and adult
stages, allowing for a comparison of morphological changes taking place in
the late phases of the ontogenetic trajectory of cacopine dissorophids. The
new find shows that, in contrast to <i>C. morrisi</i> and <i>C. aspidephorus</i>,
<i>C. woehri</i> only undergoes relatively subtle
changes in skull morphology in late ontogeny and retains the overall more
gracile morphology into adult stages. This includes retention of the rather
shallow skull shape as well as a pattern of sculpturing consisting of
elongate ridges and grooves and a large occipital flange. This suggests
somewhat different functional demands in <i>C. woehri</i> than in other known species of
<i>Cacops</i>, possibly associated with a different ecology paralleling the great taxic
diversity of dissorophoids at the Dolese locality. |
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| ISSN: | 2193-0066 2193-0074 |