Mesanerpeton
Temporal range:
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Sarcopterygii
Clade: Tetrapodomorpha
Clade: Stegocephali
Genus: †Mesanerpeton
Smithson & Clack, 2017
Type species
†Mesanerpeton woodi
Smithson & Clack, 2017

Mesanerpeton is an extinct genus of four-limbed stem-tetrapod from the Mississippian (Tournaisian) of Scotland. It contains a single species, Mesanerpeton woodi,[n 1] who based on a disarticulated specimen including a clavicle, vertebrae, and forelimb bones from the Ballagan Formation. The vertebrae are poorly-ossified and similar to Crassigyrinus, but the forelimb was robust. The shape and level of torsion present in the humerus are intermediate between Devonian stem-tetrapods and later Carboniferous tetrapods. This transitional condition, and the associated rerouting of the brachial artery and median nerve, may indicate that Mesanerpeton had a higher stride length and more efficient locomotion on land compared to its predecessors.[1]

References and Notes

  1. ↑ Smithson, Timothy R.; Clack, Jennifer A. (2017). "A new tetrapod from Romer's Gap reveals an early adaptation for walking". Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 108 (1): 89–97. doi:10.1017/S1755691018000075. ISSN 1755-6910. S2CID 133836365.

Notes

  1. ↑ which means 'Wood's intermediary crawler' named after its discoverer Stan Wood
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