| Aspidosaurus Temporal range:Late Carboniferous -Early Permian | |
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| Aspidosaurus Skull | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Temnospondyli |
| Family: | †Dissorophidae |
| Genus: | †Aspidosaurus Broili, 1904 |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Aspidosaurus is an extinctgenus ofdissorophoidtemnospondyl within thefamilyDissorophidae.
Like other dissorophids,Aspidosaurus species had a single row of plates formed by expansions of the neural spines.[1]
In 1911, Paul Miller discovered the remains of various dissorophid bones inNew Mexico that were attributed to a new species,Aspidosaurus novomexicanus. The skull closely resembled that of a specimen ofCacops aspidephorus found inTexas but the arrangement of ridges in the otic region was different. The teeth found were slender and conical and all of an approximately equal size. The vertebral column, pelvis and limb bones were also similar but the new specimen was distinguished fromCacops by the armour, the single row of vertical plates that were originally attached to the neural spines of thevertebrae.[1]A. novomexicanus was later attributed to the genusBroiliellus. More recently,"A." novomexicanus has been removed fromBroiliellus and classified as a closer relative ofCacops. The original specimen is now housed in theUniversity of California Museum of Paleontology and is referred to as the "Rio Arriba taxon" because of its uncertainphylogenetic placement.[2]
The genusAlegeinosaurus Case, 1911 was synonymized withAspidosaurus by Gee (2018) based on a redescription of the holotype.[3]
Below is acladogram from Schoch (2012) in which validAspidosaurus species are found to bebasal dissorophids and"Aspidosaurus" novomexicanus -the Rio Arriba taxon- nests within the subfamily Cacopinae:[2]
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