Glanochthon (Early Permian temnospondyl from Germany) morphology (free pdf)
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Ben Creisler
Dec 17, 2025, 12:46:24 PM (20 hours ago) Dec 17
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Ben Creisler
Ralf Werneburg (2025)
Morphology of the stereospondylomorph Glanochthon lellbachae from the early Permian (Rotliegend) of the Saar-Nahe Basin, Germany
Semana 40: 61-96
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/398710535_Morphology_of_the_stereospondylomorph_Glanochthon_lellbachae_from_the_early_Permian_Rotliegend_of_the_Saar-Nahe_Basin_Germany
Glanochthon lellbachae is an aquatic, crocodile-like stereospondylomorph amphibian, of which several well-preserved skeletons up to 1.17 m in length are known. They originate from the Kappeln Lake horizon of the Meisenheim Formation from the Lower Rotliegend (Asselian/Sakmarian, early Permian) of the Klauswald near Odernheim am Glan, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Nine of these skeletons are evaluated here for the first time and reveal interesting results. The following features are newly documented for G. lellbachae: a fully developed system of sensory line furrows, a stapes with a quadrate process, basibranchials, an adult scapula with large ossified areas of the coracoids and muscle attachment sites, and an ossified carpus. The diagnoses of the genus Glanochthon and the species G. lellbachae have been modified to facilitate differentiation from the closely related genus Sclerocephalus and from the other two Glanochthon species. Of particular importance is a late adult specimen with a skull length of 16 cm, in which the sphenethmoid, exoccipital, uncinate rib processes, supinator process of the humerus, carpus, and tarsus are ossified. Other results are of general interest for temnospondyl amphibians. An abnormally large pineal foramen in a late-adult specimen could be a spontaneous reversion to early larval development. An interpostparietal may be an atavistic structure. Two to three fillings of the rectum can be compared in size to isolated coprolites. Paired intercentrum rudiments in juvenile specimens are the first evidence of this in stereospondylomorphs. The tail can become very long – at most 1.37 times longer than the rest of the body. The late adult specimen was sick – both hind limbs were probably bitten off and regenerated halfway.
A recent paper:
Free pdf:
Ralf Werneburg (2025)
Morphology of the stereospondylomorph Glanochthon lellbachae from the early Permian (Rotliegend) of the Saar-Nahe Basin, Germany
Semana 40: 61-96
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/398710535_Morphology_of_the_stereospondylomorph_Glanochthon_lellbachae_from_the_early_Permian_Rotliegend_of_the_Saar-Nahe_Basin_Germany
Glanochthon lellbachae is an aquatic, crocodile-like stereospondylomorph amphibian, of which several well-preserved skeletons up to 1.17 m in length are known. They originate from the Kappeln Lake horizon of the Meisenheim Formation from the Lower Rotliegend (Asselian/Sakmarian, early Permian) of the Klauswald near Odernheim am Glan, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Nine of these skeletons are evaluated here for the first time and reveal interesting results. The following features are newly documented for G. lellbachae: a fully developed system of sensory line furrows, a stapes with a quadrate process, basibranchials, an adult scapula with large ossified areas of the coracoids and muscle attachment sites, and an ossified carpus. The diagnoses of the genus Glanochthon and the species G. lellbachae have been modified to facilitate differentiation from the closely related genus Sclerocephalus and from the other two Glanochthon species. Of particular importance is a late adult specimen with a skull length of 16 cm, in which the sphenethmoid, exoccipital, uncinate rib processes, supinator process of the humerus, carpus, and tarsus are ossified. Other results are of general interest for temnospondyl amphibians. An abnormally large pineal foramen in a late-adult specimen could be a spontaneous reversion to early larval development. An interpostparietal may be an atavistic structure. Two to three fillings of the rectum can be compared in size to isolated coprolites. Paired intercentrum rudiments in juvenile specimens are the first evidence of this in stereospondylomorphs. The tail can become very long – at most 1.37 times longer than the rest of the body. The late adult specimen was sick – both hind limbs were probably bitten off and regenerated halfway.
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