dissorophoidea

{{Short description|Extinct superfamily of amphibians}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Dissorophoidea

| fossil_range = Late Carboniferous - Early Triassic, {{fossil range|307.1|249|earliest=323.2|latest=0}} Probable descendant taxon Lissamphibia survives to present.Pérez-Ben, C.M. Schoch, R.R. & Báez, A.M. (2018) [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/miniaturization-and-morphological-evolution-in-paleozoic-relatives-of-living-amphibians-a-quantitative-approach/715EF2DE5B83FA8EA2D1D9172A53805A Miniaturization and morphological evolution in Paleozoic relatives of living amphibians: a quantitative approach]. Paleobiology.

| image = Cacops Field Museum.jpg

| image_caption = Skeleton of Cacops aspidephorus (Dissorophidae) in the Field Museum

| taxon = Dissorophoidea

| authority = Bolt, 1969

| subdivision_ranks = Subgroups

| subdivision = See text.

}}

Dissorophoidea is a clade of medium-sized, temnospondyl amphibians that appeared during the Moscovian in Euramerica, and continued through to the Late Permian and the Early Triassic of Gondwana. They are distinguished by various details of the skull,(see Laurin & Steyer, 2000, for list of apomorphies) and many species seem to have been well adapted for life on land.

Dissorophoid diversity was highest in the Permian; some of the more diverse families within the group include Dissorophidae (toad-like amphibians with armored scutes along their backbone), Trematopidae (terrestrial predators with large triangular skulls), and Branchiosauridae (small neotenic amphibians with large external gills). The small Permo-Carboniferous Micromelerpetontidae are another example of neotenic dissorophoids. Many small dissorophoids with short rounded skulls were historically known as "amphibamids"; in 2018, the name Amphibamiformes was erected for a clade equivalent to the broad historical definition of "Amphibamidae".

Since 2008, a consensus of early amphibian researchers consider Lissamphibia (modern amphibians) to be part of this clade. There is a large degree of similarity between lissamphibians (for which the oldest known fossils are Early Triassic) and certain Early Permian amphibamiforms, such as Gerobatrachus and Doleserpeton.Anderson, J.S. (2008) Focal review: the origin(s) of modern amphibians: Evolutionary Biology, v. 35, p. 231–247.{{cite journal|last1=Schoch|first1=R.R.|title=Character distribution and phylogeny of the dissorophid temnospondyls|journal=Fossil Record|volume=15|issue=2|year=2012|pages=121–137|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235727113|issn=1435-1943|doi=10.5194/fr-15-121-2012|doi-access=free}} A few authors still dispute affinities between dissorophoids and lissamphibians.{{Cite journal|last1= Marjanović |first1=David|last2=Laurin|first2=Michel|date=2019|title=Phylogeny of Paleozoic limbed vertebrates reassessed through revision and expansion of the largest published relevant data matrix|journal=PeerJ|volume=6|issue=e5565|pages=e5565|doi=10.7717/peerj.5565|pmid=30631641|pmc=6322490|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |last1=Laurin |first1=Michel |last2=Lapauze |first2=Océane |last3=Marjanović |first3=David |title=What do ossification sequences tell us about the origin of extant amphibians? |journal=Peer Community Journal |date=21 January 2022 |volume=2 |pages=e12 |doi=10.24072/pcjournal.89|doi-access=free }}