The oldest records of the stem amniote Discosauriscus (Seymouriamorpha, Discosauriscidae) from the European Carboniferous-Permian boundary

 

Authors: Klembara J, Werneburg R, Mikudíková M, Šurka J, Štamberg S

Published in: Bulletin of Geosciences, volume 98, issue 3; pages: 233 - 246; Received 13 June 2023; Accepted in revised form 9 October 2023; Online 31 October 2023

Keywords: Germany, latest Carboniferous, Czech Republic, early Permian, Seymouriamorpha, Discosauriscidae, skeletons,

full text (PDF, 21.71 MB)

Export to RIS

 

Abstract

The skeletal remains of early tetrapod Discosauriscus (Seymouriamorpha) are known from the lower Permian deposits of the Central and Western Europe. We describe here two specimens of Discosauriscus: one from the Czech Republic (D. pulcherrimus) and the second from Germany (D. cf. pulcherrimus). Discosauriscus pulcherrimus is represented by the complete skull and partial anterior postcranial skeleton, and represents the oldest record of this species from the Czech Republic. To identify the diagnostic characters of D. pulcherrimus, we used the highresolution X-ray microcomputed tomography. This enabled us to identify all three characters typical for this species, in contrast to the morphology of the contemporaneous D. austriacus. The discosauriscid from Germany, known on the basis of the postcranial skeleton (Discosauriscus cf. pulcherrimus), represents the first record of the genus Discosauriscus from the Upper Carboniferous.

References

Barthel, M. 1994. Von Mylius bis Schlotheim. Paläobotanische Sammlungen des 18. Jahrhunderts aus Manebach, Thüringer Wald. Macrocosmos in Microcosmos, 707-720. A. Grote, Opladen.View article

Barthel, M. 2003. Die Rotliegendflora des Thüringer Waldes, Teil 1: Einführung und Keilblattpflanzen. Veröffentlichungen Naturhistorischen Museum Schleusingen 18, 3-16.

Barthel, M. & Rößler, R. 1995. “Eine gantz unbekanndte Frucht...” - 300 Jahre paläobotanisches Sammeln und Beobachten in Manebach. Veröffentlichungen Naturhistorisches Museum Schleusingen 10, 49-56.

Blecha, M., Martínek, K. & Mihajlevič, M. 1999. Paleoenvironmental changes of the semipermanent Kalná Lake (Lower Permian), Krkonoše Piedmont Basin, Czech Republic: sedimentary and geochemical record. Acta Universitatis Carolinae, Geologica 43(4), 657-665.

Boy, J.A. 2007. Als die Saurier noch klein waren: Tetrapoden im Permokarbon, 258-286. In Schindler, T. & Heidtke, U.H.J. (eds) Kohlesümpfe, Seen und Halbwüsten. Bad Dürkheim, Pollichia.

Bulanov, V.V. 2003. Evolution and systematics of seymouriamorph parareptiles. Paleontological Journal 37, suppl. 1, 1-105.

Fritsch, A. 1880. Fauna der Gaskohle und der Kalksteine der Permformation Böhmens. Band 1, Heft 2. 93-126 pp. F. Řivnáč, Praha.View article

Haubold, H. 1970. Versuch einer Revision der Amphibienfährten des Karbons und Perms. Freiberger Forschungshefte C 260, 83-117.

Heyler, D. 1969. Vertébrés de l’Autunien de France. Cahiers de Paléontologie, Édition du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris 166, 1-259.

Jiang, Z., Ding, X., Wang, Z. & Zhao, X. 2020. Sedimentary paleoenvironment of source rocks of Permian Lucaogou Formation in Jimsar Sag. Lithologic Reservoirs 32, 109-119.

Klembara, J. 1995. The external gills and ornamentation of the skull roof bones of the Lower Permian tetrapod Discosauriscus austriacus (Makowsky 1876) with remarks to its ontogeny. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 69, 265-281.View article

Klembara, J. 1997. The cranial anatomy of Discosauriscus Kuhn, a seymouriamorph tetrapod from the Lower Permian of the Boskovice Furrow (Czech Republic). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 352, 257-302.View article

Klembara, J. 2009. New cranial and dental features of Discosauriscus austriacus (Seymouriamorpha, Discosauriscidae) and the ontogenetic conditions of Discosauriscus. Special Papers in Palaeontology 81, 61-69.

Klembara, J. 2011. The cranial anatomy, ontogeny and relationships of Karpinskiosaurus secundus (Amalitzky) (Seymouriamorpha, Karpinskiosauridae) from the Upper Permian of the European Russia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 161(1), 184-212.View article

Klembara, J. 2016. A new find of discosauriscid seymouriamorph from the Lower Permian of Boskovice Basin in Moravia (the Czech Republic). Fossil Imprint 72(1-2), 117-121.View article

Klembara, J. & Bartík, I. 2000 (for 1999). The postcranial skeleton of Discosauriscus Kuhn, a seymouriamorph tetrapod from the Lower Permian of the Boskovice Furrow (Czech Republic). Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 90, 287-316.View article

Klembara, J. & Mikudíková, M. 2019. New cranial material of Discosauriscus pulcherrimus (Seymouriamorpha, Discosauriscidae) from the Lower Permian of the Boskovice Basin (Czech Republic). Earth and Environmental Sciences Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 109(1-2), 225-236.View article

Klembara, J. & Ruta, M. 2004. The seymouriamorph tetrapod Utegenia shpinari from the ?Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian of Kazakhstan. Part I. Cranial anatomy and ontogeny. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 94, 45-74.View article

Klembara, J. & Ruta, M. 2005. The seymouriamorph tetrapod Ariekanerpeton sigalovi from the Lower Permian of Tadzhikistan. Part II. Postcranial anatomy and relationships. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences 96, 71-93.View article

Klembara, J., Mikudíková, M., Štamberg, S. & Hain, M. 2020. First record of the stem amniote Discosauriscus (Seymouriamorpha, Discosauriscidae) from the Krkonoše Piedmont Basin (the Czech Republic). Fossil Imprint 76, 243-251.View article

Kuhn, O. 1933. Labyrinthodontia, 1-114. In Quenstedt, W. (ed.) Fossilium catalogus, I. Animalia 61. W. Junk, Berlin.

Lützner, H., Andreas, D., Schneider, J.W., Voigt, S. & Werneburg, R. 2012. Stefan und Rotliegend im Thüringer Wald und seiner Umgebung, 418-487. In Lützner, H. & Kowalczyk, G. (eds) Stratigraphie von Deutschland X. Rotliegend. Teil I: Innervariscische Becken. Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften 61.View article

Lützner, H., Tichomirowa, M., Käßner, A. & Gaupp, R. 2021. Latest Carboniferous to early Permian volcano-stratigraphic evolution in Central Europe: U-Pb CA-ID-TIMS ages of volcanic rocks in the Thuringian Forest Basin (Germany). International Journal of Earth Sciences 110, 377-398.View article

Martínek, K., Blecha, M., Daněk, V., Franců, J., Hladíková, J., Johnová, R. & Uličný, D. 2006. Record of palaeoenvironmental changes in a Lower Permian organic-rich lacustrine succession: Integrated sedimentological and geochemical study of the Rudník member, Krkonoše Piedmont Basin, Czech Republic. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 230, 85-128.View article

Michel, L.A., Tabor, N.J., Montaňez, I.P., Schmitz, M.D. & Davydov, V.I. 2015. Chronostratigraphy and paleoclimatology of the Lodeve Basin, France: Evidence for a pan-tropical aridification event across the Carboniferous-Permian boundary. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 430, 118-131.View article

Opluštil, S., Schmitz, M., Kachlík, V. & Štamberg, S. 2016. Re-assessment of litostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and volcanic aktivity of the Late Paleozoic Intra-Sudetic, Krkonoše-Piedmont and Mnichovo Hradiště basins (Czech Republic) based on new U-Pb CA-ID-TIMS ages. Bulletin of Geosciences 91(2), 399-432.View article

Prouza, V. & Tásler, R. 2001. Podkrkonošská pánev [Krkonoše Piedmont Basin], 128-166. In Pešek, J. et al. (eds) Geologie a ložiska svrchnopaleozoických limnických pánví České republiky [Geology and deposits of Late Paleozoic limnic basins of the Czech Republic]. Český Geologický ústav, Praha.

Prouza, V., Adamová, M., Břízová, E., Drábková, J., Dvořák, I., Havlíček, P., Hrazdíra, P., Kondrová, I., Krupička, J., Malec, J., Rambousek, P., Rapprich, V., Rýda, K., Řídkošil, T., Skácelová, D., Skácelová, Z., Šebesta, J., Šimůnek, Z., Zajíc, J. & Žáčková, E. 2013. Vysvětlivky k Základní geologické mapě České republiky 1:25000, 03-413 Semily. 128 pp. Česká geologická služba, Praha.

Romer, A.S. 1947. Review of the Labyrinthodontia. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard 99, 1-368.

Saint-Seine P. de 1949. Vertébrés autuniens de Bourbon-l’Archambault (Allier). Annales de Paléontologie 35, 133-140.

Sanchez, S., Klembara, J., Castanet, J. & Steyer, S. 2008. Salamander-like development in a stem amniote revealed by paleohistology. Biology Letters 4(4), 411-414.View article

Schlotheim, E.F. von 1804. Beschreibungen merkwürdiger Kräuterabdrücke und Pflanzenverstei¬nerungen, 68 pp. Gotha.

Schneider, J. 1978. Zur Taxonomie und Biostratigraphie der Blattodea (Insecta) aus dem Oberkarbon und Perm der DDR. Freiberger Forschungshefte C340, 1-152.

Schneider, J. 1996. Biostratigraphie des kontinentalen Oberkarbon und Perm im Thüringer Wald, SW-Saale-Senke - Stand und Probleme. Beiträge zur Geologie von Thüringen, Neue Folge 3, 121-151.

Schneider, J.W. 2001. Rotliegendstratigraphie - Prinzipien und Probleme. Beiträge zur Geologie von Thüringen, Neue Folge 8, 7-42.

Schneider, J.W. & Werneburg, R. 2006. Insect biostratigraphy of the Euramerican continental Late Pennsylvanian and Early Permian, 325-336. In Lucas, S.G., Cassinis, G. & Schneider, J.W. (eds) Non-Marine Permian Biostratigraphy and Biochronology. Geological Society London, Special Publication 265.View article

Schneider, J.W. & Werneburg, R. 2012. Biostratigraphie des Rotliegend mit Insekten und Amphibien, 110-142. In Deutsche Stratigraphische Kommission (Hrsg.; Koordination und Redaktion: Lützner, H. & Kowalczyk, G. für die Subkommission Perm-Trias): Stratigraphie von Deutschland X. Rotliegend. Teil I: Innervariscische Becken. - Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Geowissenschaften Heft 61. Hannover.View article

Schneider, J.W., Lucas, S.G., Scholze, F., Voigt, S., Marchetti, L., Klein, H., Opluštil, S., Werneburg, R., Golubev, V.K., Barrick, J.E., Nemyrovska, T., Ronchi, A., Day, M.O., Silantiev, V.V., Roßler, R., Saber, H., Linnemann, U., Zarinova, V. & Shen, S.-Z. 2020. Late Palaeozoic-early Mesozoic continental biostratigraphy - links to the marine Standard Global Stratigraphic Scale. Palaeoworld 29, 186-238.View article

Schneider, J.W., Scholze, F., Ross, A.J., Blake, B.M. & Lucas, S.G. 2021. Improved blattoid insect and conchostracan zonation for the late Carboniferous, Pennsylvanian, of Euramerica. Geological Society London, Special Publication 512, 865-891.View article

Špinar, Z.V. 1952. Revision of some Moravian Discosauriscidae (Labyrinthodontia). Rozpravy Ústředního ústavu geologického 15, 1-115.

Štamberg, S. 2017. Research by the Museum of Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Králové on significant localities with Permian faunas in the Bohemian Massif - Part I - Krkonoše Piedmont Basin, Rudník member. Acta Musei Reginaehradecensis s. A. 36(1-2), 23-46.

Štamberg, S. & Zajíc, J. 2008. Carboniferous and Permian faunas and their occurrence in the limnic basins of the Czech Republic. 224 pp. Museum of Eastern Bohemia, Hradec Králové.

Steyer, J.S., Sanchez, S., Debriette, P.J., Valli, A.M., Escuille, F., Pohl, B., Dechambre, R.P., Vacant, R., Spence, C. & Plöeg, G. 2012. A new vertebrate Lagerstätte from the Lower Permian of France (Franchesse, Massif Central): palaeoenvironmental implications for the Bourbon-l’Archambault basin. Bulletin de la Société Geologique de France 183(6), 509-515.View article

Tásler, R., Havlena, V. & Prouza, V. 1981. New lithostratigraphical division of the central and western part of the Krkonoše Piedmont Basin. Věstník Ústředního Ústavu Geologického 56, 129-143.

Trümper, S., Vogel, B., Germann, S., Werneburg, R., Schneider, J. W., Linnemann, U. & Rößler, R. 2023. Decoding deep-time wetland biodiversity: insights from reconstructing an early Permian tropical lake ecosystem. Palaeontology 66, e12652.View article

Watson, D.M.S. 1917. A sketch classification of the pre-Jurassic tetrapod vertebrates. Proceedings of the zoological society of London 1917, 167-186.View article

Werneburg, R. 1985. Zur Taxonomie der jungpaläozoischen Familie Discosauriscidae Romer 1947 (Batrachosauria, Amphibia). Freiberger Forschungshefte C 400, 118-140.

Werneburg, R. 1989a. Labyrinthodontier (Amphibia) aus dem Oberkarbon und Unterperm

Mitteleuropas - Systematik, Phylogenie und Biostratigraphie. Freiberger Forschungshefte C436, 7-57.

Werneburg, R. 1989b. Some notes to systematic, phylogeny and biostratigraphy of Labyrinthodont amphibians from the Upper Carboniferous and Lower Permian in Central Europe. Acta Musei Reginaehradecensis s. A: Scientiae Naturales 22(1989), 117-129.

Werneburg, R. 1989c. Die Amphibienfauna der Manebacher Schichten (Unterrotliegendes, Unterperm) des Thüringer Waldes. Veröffentlichungen Naturhistorisches Museum Schloß Bertholdsburg Schleusingen 4, 55-68.

Werneburg, R. 2001. Die Amphibien- und Reptilien-Faunen im Permokarbon des Thüringer Waldes. Beiträge zur Geologie von Thüringen, Neue Folge 8, 125-152.

Werneburg, R. & Kiersnowski, H. 1996. A discosauriscid amphibian from the Rotliegend of the Intra-Sudetic Basin in Poland and its biostratigraphic importance. Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis, Prace Geologiczno-Mineralogiczne 52, 117-125.

Werneburg, R. & Schneider, J.W. 2006. Amphibian biostratigraphy of the European Permo-Carboniferous, 201-215. In Lucas, S.G., Cassinis, G. & Schneider, J.W. (eds) Non-Marine Permian Biostratigraphy and Biochronology. Geological Society London, Special Publication 265.View article

White, T.E. 1937. Osteology of Seymouria baylorensis Broili. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard College 85, 352-409.

Zhang, F., Li, Y. & Wan, X. 1984. A new occurrence of Permian seymouriamorphs in Xinjiang, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 22, 294-304.