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14 April 2020 Neurocranial Anatomy of Seymouria from Richards Spur, Oklahoma
Kayla D. Bazzana, Bryan M. Gee, Joseph J. Bevitt, Robert R. Reisz
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Abstract

Seymouriamorphs are a group of Permo-Carboniferous tetrapods with both terrestrial and aquatic members. Since their initial discovery, they have been proposed as phylogenetic intermediates on the amniote stem between temnospondyl amphibians and crown amniotes and are thus frequently used in phylogenetic analyses of both early amniotes and, more broadly, Paleozoic tetrapods. We utilized neutron computed tomography (nCT) to study the morphology of the first cranial material of Seymouria from the early Permian karst deposits found at the Dolese Brothers Limestone Quarry near Richards Spur, Oklahoma. The presence of a mixture of purported autapomorphies of both of the better-known species of Seymouria, S. baylorensis and S. sanjuanensis, prevents referral to either species; the potential for ontogenetic variation in many of these characters highlights the need to reevaluate the taxonomy of these species. Our description of the tomographic data focuses on the braincase and otic capsule and helps to clarify details of previously poorly known neurocranial anatomy, such as an orbitosphenoid that expands dorsally to abut the overlying frontals. The prootic and the opisthotic are complex structures that preserve clear impressions of all three semicircular canals and that frame the laterally extensive otic tube and possibly the perilymphatic duct. Our analysis provides additional details regarding a previously described but poorly known ossification of the synotic tectum and highlights the ongoing uncertainty regarding the homology of such ossifications across Paleozoic tetrapods.

© by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Kayla D. Bazzana, Bryan M. Gee, Joseph J. Bevitt, and Robert R. Reisz "Neurocranial Anatomy of Seymouria from Richards Spur, Oklahoma," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 39(5), (14 April 2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2019.1694535
Received: 26 April 2019; Accepted: 5 October 2019; Published: 14 April 2020
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