A juvenile specimen of the trematopid Acheloma from richards spur, oklahoma and challenges of trematopid ontogeny

Abstract

Trematopids are a clade of terrestrial dissorophoid temnospondyls documented primarily from terrestrial Permo-Carboniferous environments in North America and Europe. Here we describe the complete skull and articulated mandibles of a diminutive trematopid specimen (OMNH 79318) from the Early Permian karst deposits near Richards Spur, Oklahoma. Based on aspects of the neurocranium (e.g., unossified sphenethmoid, prootics, epipterygoids), the specimen represents one of the best examples of a markedly immature trematopid, an important data point for understanding the early ontogeny of trematopids. Specifically, it provides evidence that variation in otic notch structure can be ontogenetically influenced, not only among eucacopine dissorophids but also among trematopids. We provisionally refer the specimen to cf. Acheloma based on the presence of a denticulate vomerine ridge and other qualitative features. However, we emphasize that the taxonomic referral is complicated by several factors that more broadly confound trematopid taxonomy. This includes a low sample size (n = 1) of many taxa and marked size, and presumed ontogenetic, disparity between the known size range of different taxa. Complementary reexamination of both Acheloma cumminsi and Acheloma dunni as part of this study also reveals that the former possesses lateral exposures of palatal bones, the presence/absence of which was the only formal character that previously differentiated the two species, although other qualitative features (e.g., size of the internarial fontanelle) may differentiate these two species. With respect to OMNH 79318, the taxonomic referral is tentative because the specimen also shares many qualitative attributes with Phonerpeton pricei, a trematopid represented only by small-bodied, probably immature individuals. However, many of these shared features are likely to be influenced by ontogeny or size. The subsequent challenges that we encountered in our taxonomic referral suggest that ontogeny may be confounding taxonomy in both diagnoses and phylogenetic analyses of trematopids and emphasize the need for careful study of how this affects our understanding of trematopid intrarelationships.