Sclerocephalus (temnospondyl) new species from Paleozoic of Germany (free pdf)
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Ben Creisler
Sep 23, 2025, 12:44:50 PM (5 days ago) Sep 23
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Ben Creisler
A new paper:
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Sclerocephalus megalorhinus n. sp.
Sclerocephalus odernheimensis n. sp.
Rainer R. Schoch (2025)
Morphological disparity, stratigraphic distribution and evolutionary history of the temnospondyl Sclerocephalus from the late Palaeozoic of Germany
Palaeodiversity 18(1): 151-196
doi: https://doi.org/10.18476/pale.v18.a7
https://bioone.org/journals/Palaeodiversity/volume-18/issue-1/pale.v18.a7/Morphological-disparity-stratigraphic-distribution-and-evolutionary-history-of-the-temnospondyl/10.18476/pale.v18.a7.full
The temnospondyl genus Sclerocephalus forms one of the best-known and most densely sampled taxa among Palaeozoic tetrapods. Its stratigraphic range in the lacustrine sediments of the Saar-Nahe Basin spans some 3 Ma from the Altenglan through the uppermost Meisenheim formations. Profound morphological differences are identified between samples from ten geographically and stratigraphically separate lake deposits. Maximum adult size, degree of ossification and morphology differ markedly between these samples. The samples are defined as a sequence of palaeospecies (chronospecies), Sclerocephalus bavaricus (Altenglan Formation, A1), S. concordiae (Quirnbach Formation, Q1), S. sp. (Lauterecken Formation, L2), S. megalorhinus n. sp. (M6-N, Lake Niederkirchen), S. jeckenbachensis (M6-J, Lake Jeckenbach), S. sp. (M7, Lake Erdesbach), S. odernheimensis n. sp. (M8, Lake Odernheim), S. nobilis (M9-K, Lake Kappeln), S. haeuseri (M9-P, Lake Heimkirchen-Pfarrwald) and S. sp. (M10, Lake Humberg). Cladistic analysis finds the Sclerocephalidae to be monophyletic, with the seven species of Sclerocephalus forming a grade towards Glanochthon. The topology of branching is largely consistent with the stratigraphic succession. In addition to patterns likely produced by developmental plasticity, the ten samples also show evolutionary changes between the palaeospecies. Overarching trends that span the whole sequence (A1–M10) include the size and position of the lacrimal, relative length of the supratemporal, width of the posterior skull table, and the length and morphology of the pre-narial portion of the premaxilla. Other changes are restricted to single taxa: the convergent extension of the preorbital region in S. megalorhinus n. sp. and S. odernheimensis n. sp. and the short trunk in S. nobilis.
Sclerocephalus megalorhinus n. sp.
Sclerocephalus odernheimensis n. sp.
Rainer R. Schoch (2025)
Morphological disparity, stratigraphic distribution and evolutionary history of the temnospondyl Sclerocephalus from the late Palaeozoic of Germany
Palaeodiversity 18(1): 151-196
doi: https://doi.org/10.18476/pale.v18.a7
https://bioone.org/journals/Palaeodiversity/volume-18/issue-1/pale.v18.a7/Morphological-disparity-stratigraphic-distribution-and-evolutionary-history-of-the-temnospondyl/10.18476/pale.v18.a7.full
The temnospondyl genus Sclerocephalus forms one of the best-known and most densely sampled taxa among Palaeozoic tetrapods. Its stratigraphic range in the lacustrine sediments of the Saar-Nahe Basin spans some 3 Ma from the Altenglan through the uppermost Meisenheim formations. Profound morphological differences are identified between samples from ten geographically and stratigraphically separate lake deposits. Maximum adult size, degree of ossification and morphology differ markedly between these samples. The samples are defined as a sequence of palaeospecies (chronospecies), Sclerocephalus bavaricus (Altenglan Formation, A1), S. concordiae (Quirnbach Formation, Q1), S. sp. (Lauterecken Formation, L2), S. megalorhinus n. sp. (M6-N, Lake Niederkirchen), S. jeckenbachensis (M6-J, Lake Jeckenbach), S. sp. (M7, Lake Erdesbach), S. odernheimensis n. sp. (M8, Lake Odernheim), S. nobilis (M9-K, Lake Kappeln), S. haeuseri (M9-P, Lake Heimkirchen-Pfarrwald) and S. sp. (M10, Lake Humberg). Cladistic analysis finds the Sclerocephalidae to be monophyletic, with the seven species of Sclerocephalus forming a grade towards Glanochthon. The topology of branching is largely consistent with the stratigraphic succession. In addition to patterns likely produced by developmental plasticity, the ten samples also show evolutionary changes between the palaeospecies. Overarching trends that span the whole sequence (A1–M10) include the size and position of the lacrimal, relative length of the supratemporal, width of the posterior skull table, and the length and morphology of the pre-narial portion of the premaxilla. Other changes are restricted to single taxa: the convergent extension of the preorbital region in S. megalorhinus n. sp. and S. odernheimensis n. sp. and the short trunk in S. nobilis.
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