Articles | Volume 20, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-20-105-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-20-105-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
02 Mar 2017
Research article |
| 02 Mar 2017
Modeling the physiology of the aquatic temnospondyl Archegosaurus decheni from the early Permian of Germany
Florian Witzmann
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und
Biodiversitätsforschung, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Elizabeth Brainerd
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University,
Providence, RI 02912, USA
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Short summary
Based on the estimation of its body mass and metabolic rate, we calculated heat balance, gas exchange, osmoregulation, and digestion of the 290-million-year-old aquatic amphibian Archegosaurus. Our results suggest that its physiology was more fish- than tetrapod-like in many respects. We conducted this study, which is mainly based on theoretical calculations and comparison with extant analogs, to shed light on the physiology and lifestyle of early tetrapods.
Based on the estimation of its body mass and metabolic rate, we calculated heat balance, gas...
