Articles | Volume 24, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-295-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/fr-24-295-2021
Research article
 | 
30 Sep 2021
Research article |  | 30 Sep 2021

The life cycle in late Paleozoic eryopid temnospondyls: developmental variation, plasticity and phylogeny

Rainer R. Schoch

Model code and software

Tree analysis using New Technology Pablo Goloboff, James Farris, and Kevin Nixon http://www.lillo.org.ar/phylogeny/tnt/

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Short summary
Eryopids were 2 m large relatives of modern amphibians that formed top predators in the Paleozoic. They are found in aquatic deposits and apparently preyed on fishes. Their life cycle is preserved in a single species, Onchiodon labyrinthicus, from eastern Germany. It existed in a stressed ecosystem, and the broad variation in the studied sample correlates with seasonal fluctuations. Eryopids evolved into increasingly large, heavily built inhabitants of streams and seasonal water bodies.