Article: A terrestrial stereospondyl from the Lower Triassic of South Africa: the postcranial skeleton of Lydekkerina huxleyi (Amphibia: Temnospondyli)

Description of the postcranial skeleton of the basal stereospondyl amphibian Lydekkerina huxleyi from new material shows it to be heavily ossified with large processes for muscle attachment and well-developed articulation surfaces. The structure of the postcranial skeleton implies a substantial capability for terrestrial locomotion, rather than a primarily aquatic existence as has been suggested for most other stereospondyls. The postcranial skeleton is most similar to that of Uranocentrodon and the Archegosauroidea, and is unlike that of the poorly ossified, more derived stereospondyls and Dvinosauria. The postcranial skeleton does not display any of the particular apomorphies of the fully ossified Permian terrestrial temnospondyls. Cladistic analysis using the postcranial data obtained in this study indicates that within the Stereospondyli Lydekkerina huxleyi is neither a member of the Rhinesuchidae nor the Mastodonsauroidea, rather the Lydekkerinidae are a separate taxon.