Stegocephali
Stegocephali is a group containing all four-limbed vertebrates.
| Stegocephali | |
|---|---|
| |
| Examples of stegocephalians (clockwise from top left): Litoria phyllochroa, Acanthostega gunnari, Vulpes vulpes, and Tyto alba | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Elpistostegalia |
| Clade: | Stegocephalia Cope, 1868 |
| Subgroups | |
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See text. | |
The word was first used in 1868 by the American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, who used it as a general category of prehistoric amphibians. This did not get used by other people.
In 1998 the Canadian paleontologist Michel Laurin used the word and gave a formal phylogenetic definition. This was intended to include taxa with digits rather than fins, except where secondarily lost.[1]
Stegocephali Media
Typical 19th-century depiction of a primitive stegocephalian, based on a modern toad
Panderichthys a sarcopterygian fish from the late Devonian of Latvia, pencil drawing
Tiktaalik rosae, pencil drawing, digital coloring
Elginerpeton pancheni, an early tetrapod from the Late devonian of Scotland, pencil drawing
Acanthostega gunnari, pencil drawing, digital coloring
Ichthyostega pencil drawing, digital coloring, based on reconstruction by Ahlberg, 2005
Greererpeton burkemorani, a colosteid from the Early Carboniferous of North America, pencil drawing
Crassigyrinus scoticus, a carboniferous early tetrapod from Scotland
Seymouria baylorensis from the lower Permian of North America, pencil drawing
References
- ↑ Michel Laurin (1998): The importance of global parsimony and historical bias in understanding tetrapod evolution. Part I-systematics, middle ear evolution, and jaw suspension. Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Zoologie, Paris, 13e Series 19: pp 1–42.