| Deltaherpeton | |
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| Life restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Stegocephali |
| Family: | †Colosteidae |
| Genus: | †Deltaherpeton Bolt & Lombard, 2010 |
| Species | |
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Deltaherpeton is anextinctgenus ofcolosteid from middleMississippian (lateViséan age) deposits ofDelta,Iowa,United States.[1] It was first named by John R. Bolt and R. Eric Lombard in2010 and the type species isDeltaherpeton hiemstrae.[1]
Deltaherpeton can be differentiated from othercolosteids due to possessing several unique bones along the midline of the skull, separating paired skull bones which typically contact each other along the midline. These include an internasal, an oval-shaped bone which lies at the intersection of the pairedpremaxillae andnasal bones at the top of the snout. Internasals are known from several of the earliest four-limbed vertebrates, such asAcanthostega,Ichthyostega, andbaphetids. Further back, what seems to be a pair oflozenge-shape bones lie at the intersection of the nasal bones and frontal bones. These bones may be interfrontonasals, which have been found in someeryopoids andmicrosaurs.[1]
In addition,Deltaherpeton has a singlepostparietal (rather than a pair), which separates the left and rightsupratemporal andtabular bones at the rear edge of the skull. Lone postparietals are rare among non-amniote tetrapods and tetrapod relatives; onlyIchthyostega anddiadectomorphs are known to possess them. The discovery ofDeltaherpeton prompted a review and re-augmentation of the defining characteristics for the familyColosteidae, though it did not help to clarify the relationship between colosteids and other earlytetrapods.[1]
Though it is believed thatDeltaherpeton is more derived, the species is thought to have shared its environment with other early four-limbed vertebrates such asWhatcheeria, approximately 339.4 to 336 million years ago.[2]
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