Article: The temnospondyl amphibian Dendrerpeton from the Upper Carboniferous of Ireland

The temnospondyl amphibians Erpetocephalus rugosus Huxley and Ichthyerpeton hibernicum Lydekker from the Jarrow Coal (Westphalian A) of the Leinster coalfield in Eire represent a single species referable to the genus Dendrerpeton, namely D. rugosum (Huxley) comb. nov. D. rugosum is very similar to the slightly later D. acadianum from Nova Scotia, the palate and pectoral girdle of which are reinterpreted. The genotype species of Ichthyerpeton, I. bradleyae Wright and Huxley, also from the Jarrow Coal, is considered to be based on an indeterminate, though probably temnospondyl specimen, and the binomen is hence a nomen dubium.The genera Dendrerpeton, Eugyrinus, and Caerorhachis share only primitive or unassessable temnospondyl character-states with each other and with the 'long-snouted' edopoids. The Dendrerpetontidae is therefore removed from the Edopoidea, and Eugyrinus and Caerorhachis are excluded from the Dendrerpetontidae which is thus restricted to Dendrerpeton. On the evidence available, Eugyrinus is an early offshoot of the Trimerorhachoidea, while Caerorhachis and the Dendrerpetontidae are primitive temnospondyls of uncertain relationships.