Article: The temnospondyl amphibian Capetus from the Upper Carboniferous of the Czech Republic

The Carboniferous temnospondyl amphibian Capetus palustris is reassessed on the basis of new and previously described specimens from the Gaskohle of Nyrany, Czech Republic. Capetus has frequently been synonymized with Gaudrya, also from Nyrany, but the holotype of Gaudrya is a fragment of a large specimen of Cochleosaurus. The phylogenetic position of Capetus within the primitive temnospondyls is uncertain and there is no support for a cladistic relationship to the typical long-snouted edopoids. Although a numerically rare element in the Nyrany assemblage, Capetus was one of the largest tetrapods present and was probably a major component of the tetrapod biomass in the Nyrany fauna.