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| Pederpes | |
|---|---|
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| Illustration of theholotype fossil slab | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Sarcopterygii |
| Clade: | Tetrapodomorpha |
| Clade: | Stegocephali |
| Family: | †Whatcheeriidae |
| Genus: | †Pederpes Clack, 2002 |
| Species: | †P. finneyae |
| Binomial name | |
| †Pederpes finneyae Clack, 2002 | |
Pederpes ("Peter's Foot") is anextinct genus of early Carboniferousstegocephalian, dating from 348 to 347.6 Ma in the Tournaisian age (lowerMississippian).Pederpes contains one species,P. finneyae, 1 m long.
This most basal Carboniferous stegocephalian had a large, somewhat triangular head, similar to that of later American sister-genusWhatcheeria, from which it is distinguished by various skeletal features, such as a spike-likelatissimus dorsi (an arm muscle) attachment on thehumerus and several minor skull features. The feet had characteristics that distinguished it from the paddle-like feet of theDevonianIchthyostegalia and resembled the feet of later, more terrestrially adapted Carboniferous forms.Pederpes is the earliest-known tetrapod to show the beginnings of terrestrial locomotion and despite the probable presence of a sixth digit on the forelimbs it was at least functionally pentadactyl.
Pederpes was discovered in 1971 in centralScotland and classified as alobe-finned fish. Its fossils were found in the Ballagan Formation. Thetype specimen was a nearly complete, articulated skeleton. Only the tail and some bones of the skull and limbs were missing. It was not until 2002 thatJennifer Clack named and reclassified the fossil as a primitive tetrapod.[1]
Pederpes is placed in the familyWhatcheeriidae, of uncertain relationships to other tetrapod families. While an amphibian in the broad sense, undercladistic taxonomy,Pederpes is not a member of thecrown groupamphibian in the meaning ofmodern amphibians. As a very basal (primitive) tetrapod, it falls under the traditionalclass Amphibia inLinnaean taxonomy.
Pederpes is an important fossil because it comes from the period known asRomer's gap and provides biologists with rare information about the development of tetrapods in a time when terrestrial life was rare.
The fossil was discovered in theBallagan Formation, Inverclyde Group, claviger-macra (CM) palynozone (348 to 347.6 mya), Tournaisain Tn3c, Courceyan, Dinantian, Lower Carboniferous.[1][2]
Pederpes was 1 m long, making it average-sized for an early tetrapod.
The shape of the skull and the fact that the feet face forward rather than outward indicate thatPederpes was well adapted to land life. It is currently the earliest known fully terrestrial animal, although the structure of the ear shows that its hearing was still much more functional underwater than on land, and may have spent much of its time in the water and could have hunted there.
The narrow skull suggests thatPederpes breathed by inhaling with a muscular action like most modern tetrapods, rather than by pumping air into thelungs with a throat pouch the way many modernamphibians do.
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