I read the phrase “transitioned onto land” for about the thousandth time the other day, but this time I noticed an opportunity!

Taxonomy Tournament: Reptiles

Crocodilia. This reptile order contains crocodiles and alligators

Serpentes. This reptile suborder is made up of snakes

Tetrapods: We evolved proper limbs which let us do just about anything we want.

Fish: you fucked up a perfectly good fin is what you did! Look at it, it has arthritis!

Jumy-M Sea View / 海の景色

obviously I can't include everything. Rip to the various groups I was forced to leave out, including Mesosaurs, my beloveds.

Lost species are those that have not been observed in the wild for over 10 years, despite searches to find them. Lost tetrapod species (four-limbed vertebrate animals including amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles) are a global phenomenon—there are more than 800 of them, and they are broadly distributed worldwide. Our research, published today in the journal Global Change Biology, attempts to pin down why certain tetrapod species are rediscovered but others not. It also reveals that the number of lost tetrapod species is increasing decade-on-decade. This means that despite many searches, we are losing tetrapod species at a faster rate than we are rediscovering them. In particular, rates of rediscovery for lost amphibian, bird and mammal species have slowed in recent years, while rates of loss for reptile species have increased.

Continue Reading.

Time Travel Question 32: Pre-history. I forget what number....3? 4?

In honor of @kraetac.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration. All cultures and time periods welcome.

had this lying around for a while, a quick sketch of "shock-jaw", a stem-tetrapod kaiju

911 hello? There is a naked hairy little man in the yard

Paleo Party Time! Today’s guest is acanthostega

*throws a tungsten plushie through your window*

is it like the plushie version of those famous tungsten cubes? someone must really be a fan 0_0

but to your surprise, my window is already barricaded by a horde of tetrapods!

Megalocephalus pachycephalus

Megalocephalus was a genus of early tetrapod from the Late Carboniferous. Its type species is M. pachycephalus. Its second species is M. lineolatus. The known specimens of M. pachycephalus were found in multiple sites in England, Ireland, and Scotland; while M. lineolatus was found in a quarry in Ohio, U.S. Both species were discovered in the late 1800s and had much material referred to and from other genera quite frequently for several decades.

The genus name Megalocephalus means "big head," while pachycephalus means "thick head."

There was a third species named M. brevicornis in 1947 based on some original fossils referred to as "Pteroplax" brevicornis, however, the original holotype was poorly described and destroyed in a museum fire in 1909.

Megalocephalus is considered a member of Baphetidae, a small family of early tetrapod amphibians. It is not entirely clear how closely related the members of this family are due to some striking differences between them, but M. pachycephalus is closely related to sister taxon Kyrinion, more so than it is to M. lineolatus. Both species were large, estimated to reach upwards of 1.5m from head to tail. Like other baphetids, the skull had an elongation of the eye socket, which is thought to have been either a location for a salt gland or extra jaw muscle attachments. Its long, sharp teeth indicate it hunted fish.

Original paper: M. pachycephalus original description; M. lineolatus original description (referred to as Leptophractus)

Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalocephalus

Taxonomy Tournament: Mammals

Pholidota. This order is made up of the pangolin, the only mammal to have keratin scales.

Perissodactyla. This order is also known as the odd-toed ungulates because they (mostly) have hooves and bear weight on one or three toes. It is made up of equines, rhinos, and tapirs.

Hello! Dinosaur (specifically tetrapod) enjoyers and all who love academic drama! I need to show you one of the best scientific articles I've ever read. Written by Darren Naish in hopes of completely debunking a man named David Peters' work on "restoring" tetrapod fossils, it is probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever read.

Saw tetrapods used as sea defences in Sicily, didn’t get any photos so the ones below are stock (source wiki) and OMG they are beautiful! Like sea giants were playing some sort of version of jacks or knuckle-bones and then wandered off…

is there a term that’s like “non-avian dinosaur” except for what we traditionally call fish?

non-tetrapod fish