Brachydectes

Brachydectes; Temporal range: Carboniferous
	Reconstructed skull of B. newberryi
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Microsauria
Family:	†Molgophidae
Genus:	†Brachydectes; Cope, 1868
Type species
	†Brachydectes newberryi; Cope, 1868
Synonyms
	Genus synonymy †Cocytinus?; Cope, 1871 ; †Lysorophus?; Cope, 1877 ; †Molgophis?; Cope, 1868 ; †Pleuroptyx?; Cope, 1875 ; Species synonymy †Brachydectes elongatus?; Wellstead, 1991 ; †Cocytinus gyrinoides?; Cope, 1871 ; †Lysorophus tricarinatus?; Cope, 1877 ; †Molgophis brevicostatus?; Cope, 1875 ; †Molgophis macrurus?; Cope, 1868 ; †Pleuroptyx clavatus?; Cope, 1875 ;

Brachydectes is an extinct genus of lysorophian tetrapods that lived from the Late Carboniferous to the Early Permian. It had a very small head and long body, B. elongatus had 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) long skull (averagely 1.4 centimetres (0.55 in)) and pre-sacral length up to 150 centimetres (59 in) (averagely 45 centimetres (18 in)),^[2]^[3] while B. newberryi, which have proportionally larger skull than B. elongatus, for specimen with 7.6 millimetres (0.30 in) skull roof had estimated total length of 11 centimetres (4.3 in), while the largest skull exceeds 3 centimetres (1.2 in).^[1]^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b Pardo, Jason D.; Anderson, Jason S. (2016-08-26). "Cranial Morphology of the Carboniferous-Permian Tetrapod Brachydectes newberryi (Lepospondyli, Lysorophia): New Data from µCT". PLOS ONE. 11 (8): e0161823. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161823. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5001628. PMID 27563722.
^ Laurin, Michel (2004-08-01). "The Evolution of Body Size, Cope's Rule and the Origin of Amniotes". Systematic Biology. 53 (4): 863–622. doi:10.1080/10635150490445706. ISSN 1076-836X. PMID 15371249.
^ ^a ^b Wellstead, Carl F. (1991). "Taxonomic revision of the Lysorophia, Permo-Carboniferous lepospondyl amphibians". Bulletin of the AMNH (209). hdl:2246/904.

Gaining Ground: The Origin and Early Evolution of Tetrapods by Jennifer A. Clack
Amniote Origins: Completing the Transition to Land by Stuart Sumida and Karen L.M Martin

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[Pardo2016-1] Pardo, Jason D.; Anderson, Jason S. (2016-08-26). "Cranial Morphology of the Carboniferous-Permian Tetrapod Brachydectes newberryi (Lepospondyli, Lysorophia): New Data from µCT". PLOS ONE. 11 (8): e0161823. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161823. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5001628. PMID 27563722.

[2] Laurin, Michel (2004-08-01). "The Evolution of Body Size, Cope's Rule and the Origin of Amniotes". Systematic Biology. 53 (4): 863–622. doi:10.1080/10635150490445706. ISSN 1076-836X. PMID 15371249.

[:0-3] Wellstead, Carl F. (1991). "Taxonomic revision of the Lysorophia, Permo-Carboniferous lepospondyl amphibians". Bulletin of the AMNH (209). hdl:2246/904.

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