Micropholis (amphibian)

Micropholis (Greek 'mikros' = small and 'pholis' = scale) is an extinct genus of dissorophoid temnospondyl. Fossils have been found from the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of the Karoo Basin in South Africa, and date back to the Early Triassic.

For the flowering plant genus, see Micropholis. The brittle star genus described as Micropholis has been renamed Microphiopholis.

Micropholis
Temporal range: Early Triassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Amphibia
Order:
Temnospondyli
(unranked):
Euskelia
Superfamily:
Dissorophoidea
Family:
Micropholidae
Genus:
Micropholis

Huxley, 1859
Species
  • M. stowi Huxley, 1859 (type)
Synonyms
  • Petrophryne Owen, 1876

Description
Skull of M. stowi in the Field Museum of Natural History.

Micropholis belongs to the family Micropholidae, and was previously included in Amphibamidae along with other micropholids. However, a number of analyses recover Micropholidae as a distinct clade of derived non-olsoniform dissorophoids.[1][2]

Many specimens have been found, and two distinct morphotypes are evident, differing in skull width and palatal dentition.[3] The smaller morph tends to have a broader head than the larger. Both morphs had large fangs protruding from the palate that were inwardly curving. The genus Petrophryne ('rock toad'), named by Richard Owen in 1876, is synonymous with Micropholis. Micropholis stowi is named for George William Stow, the South African geologist and ethnologist.

References
  1. Schoch, R.R., and Rubidge, B.S., 2005, The amphibamid Micropholis stowi from the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of South Africa: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, v. 25, p. 502–522.
  2. Rainer R. Schoch (2018). "The putative lissamphibian stem-group: phylogeny and evolution of the dissorophoid temnospondyls". Journal of Paleontology. Online edition. doi:10.1017/jpa.2018.67.
  3. Schoch, R. R. and Rubidge, B. S. (2005). The amphibamid Micropholis from the Lystrosaurus assemblage zone of South Africa. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(3):502-522.


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