Tambaroter carrolli is a new genus and species of medium-sized ostodolepid ‘microsaur’ from the Lower Permian Tambach Formation, lowermost formational unit of the Upper Rotliegend, Thuringia, central Germany. Based on a single skull, it is the first ‘microsaur’ to be described from this formation and the first vertebrate fossil known from the Tambach Formation outside of the well-known, nearby Bromacker locality. It possesses typical ostodolepid features, including presence of a recumbent snout, ventral embayment of the cheek, a notch in the posterolateral margin of the tabular, and a well-developed retroarticular process. It can be distinguished from other ostodolepids by proportional characters and bones forming the cheek embayment rim. The presence of Tambaroter in Europe, as the first ostodolepid known from outside of the midcontinent of North America, indicates that the geographic occurrence of this family was more widespread than previously known.
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1 September 2011
An Ostodolepid ‘Microsaur’ (Lepospondyli) from the Lower Permian Tambach Formation of Central Germany
Amy C. Henrici,
Thomas Martens,
David S Berman,
Stuart S. Sumida
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