Australerpeton

{{Short description|Extinct genus of temnospondyls}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|fossil_range = Late Permian, {{fossilrange|Lopingian|Lopingian|Lopingian}}

|image = Australerpeton12DB.jpg

|taxon = Australerpeton

|authority = Barberena, 1998

|type_species = Australerpeton cosgriffi

|type_species_authority = Barberena, 1998

}}

Australerpeton is an extinct genus of stereospondylomorph temnospondyl currently believed to belong to the family Rhinesuchidae. When first named in 1998, the genus was placed within the new family Australerpetontidae.{{cite journal |last=Barberena |first=M. C. |year=1998 |title=Australerpeton cosgriffi n.g., n.sp., a Late Permian Rhinesuchoid amphibian from Brazil |journal=Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=125–137}} However, studies published a few years later questioned the systematics used in the original description and included the genus within Archegosauridae.Schoch, R. R. and Milner, A. R. (2000). Stereospondyli. Stem-stereospondyli, Rhinesuchidae, Rhytidostea, Trematosauroidea, Capitosauroidea. Handbuch der paläoherpetologie Part 3B. 203p A study by Dias & Schultz (2003) reassigned Australerpeton to the family Rhinesuchidae within the suborder Stereospondyli based on an earlier evaluation of the family. In this study, the close similarities between Australerpeton and archegosaurids were attributed to convergent evolution as a result of similar semi-aquatic lifestyles.{{cite journal |last=Dias |first=E. V. |author2=Schultz, C. L. |year=2003 |title=The first Paleozoic temnospondyl postcranial skeleton from South America |journal=Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia |volume=6 |pages=29–42 |url=http://www.sbpbrasil.org/revista/edicoes/6/Dias&Schultz.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705125115/https://www.sbpbrasil.org/revista/edicoes/6/Dias&Schultz.pdf |archivedate=2023-07-05 |url-status=live }} A redescription of the skeleton of this genus was published by Eltink & Langer in 2014, and the skull was redescribed in a follow-up study published by Eltink et al. in 2016.{{Cite journal|last=Eltink|first=Estevan|last2=Langer|first2=Max C.|date=2014|title=A New Specimen of the Temnospondyl Australerpeton cosgriffi from the Late Permian of Brazil (Rio Do Rasto Formation, Paraná Basin): Comparative Anatomy and phylogenetic relationships|jstor=24523275|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=34|issue=3|pages=524–538|doi=10.1080/02724634.2013.826667}}{{Cite journal|last=Eltink|first=Estevan|last2=Dias|first2=Eliseu V.|last3=Dias-da-Silva|first3=Sérgio|last4=Schultz|first4=Cesar L.|last5=Langer|first5=Max C.|date=2016-04-01|title=The cranial morphology of the temnospondyl Australerpeton cosgriffi (Tetrapoda: Stereospondyli) from the Middle-Late Permian of Paraná Basin and the phylogenetic relationships of Rhinesuchidae|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|language=en|volume=176|issue=4|pages=835–860|doi=10.1111/zoj.12339|issn=0024-4082|doi-access=free}} These studies, as well as a 2017 study focusing on rhinesuchids in general, confirmed that Australerpeton was a rhinesuchid rather than an archegosaurid.{{Cite journal|last=Marsicano|first=Claudia A.|last2=Latimer|first2=Elizabeth|last3=Rubidge|first3=Bruce|last4=Smith|first4=Roger M.H.|date=2017-10-01|title=The Rhinesuchidae and early history of the Stereospondyli (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) at the end of the Palaeozoic|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|language=en|volume=181|issue=2|doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlw032|issn=0024-4082|hdl=11336/105150|hdl-access=free}} Fossils of the genus have been found in the Rio do Rasto Formation of Brazil.{{Cite journal|author1=Karine Lohmann Azevedo |author2=Cristina Silveira Vega |author3=Marina Bento Soares |year=2017 |title=A new specimen of Australerpeton cosgriffi Barberena, 1998 (Stereospondyli: Rhinesuchidae) from the Middle/Upper Permian Rio do Rasto Formation, Paraná Basin, Brazil |journal=Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=333–344 |doi=10.4072/rbp.2017.3.05 |doi-access=free }}