The Coal Measures Amphibia of North AmericaMoodie, Roy Lee
Science
The Coal Measures Amphibia of North America
Moodie, Roy Lee
Amphibians, Fossil -- North America; Paleontology -- Carboniferous; Paleontology -- North America
This species is based on a fragmentary cranium (plate 26, fig. 1)
consisting of the posterior part of the right side of the skull. Its
association in the genus is solely on the character of the sculpturing
of the cranial elements. It is most closely related, in the characters
preserved, to the form described by Cope as _Tuditanus radiatus_, from
which it differs especially in the character of the sculpture and in
the position of the orbits, as well as the arrangement and size of the
various cranial elements, so far as these elements can be detected in the
present specimen. In _Erpetosaurus radiatus_ the skull is sculptured by
radiating grooves and ridges which did not arise from a definite center.
In _E. tuberculatus_ this center of radiation is marked by an elevation
or tubercle on each cranial element exposed, from which the grooves and
ridges radiate outward. These tubercles have an elevation of 4 mm. above
the cranial element proper. The orbit is located near the median line of
the skull, so far as can be determined. In _E. radiatus_ Cope the orbits
are located well forward. In that species also the postparietal is smaller
than in the present species and the squamosal is longer and more slender.
(Plate 25, fig. 1.)
The fragment of a skull on which the above comparison has been made
consists of the right postparietal, a portion of the tabulare, the
parietal, the frontal, and a portion of the squamosal. The other elements
are not clear. The elements in the median line are elongate, as in
_Erpetosaurus radiatus_. The pineal foramen is located well back on
the median line and lies posterior to two-thirds of the length of the
parietals. The sutures separating the frontal and parietal elements from
each other in the median line are of the zigzag form so characteristic of
the labyrinthodonts.
Measurements of the Type of Erpetosaurus tuberculatus Moodie.
mm.
Length of portion of skull preserved 52
Width across tabulare (estimated) 60
Length of parietal 15
Maximum width of parietal 11
Length of frontal 22
Width of frontal 12
=Genus ODONTERPETON Moodie.=
Moodie, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 37, p. 19, 1909.
Type: _Odonterpeton triangularis_ Moodie.
The generic characters may be found in the triangular shape of the skull,
the large size of the teeth, the shape of the vertebræ, the small size
of the orbits, and their anterior position as shown in the type specimen
(fig. 22, E). The name of the genus is derived from the remarkable size of
the teeth as compared with the size of the skull.
=Odonterpeton triangularis Moodie.=
Moodie, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 37, p. 19, pl. 6, fig. 3, 1909.
Type: Specimen No. 4465, U. S. National Museum.
Horizon and locality: Linton, Ohio, Coal Measures.
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