Whatcheeriidae Explained

Whatcheeriidae is an extinct family of stem-tetrapods which lived in the Mississippian sub-period, a subdivision of the Carboniferous period. It contains the genera Pederpes, Whatcheeria, and possibly Ossinodus. Fossils of a possible whatcheeriid have been found from the Red Hill locality of Pennsylvania. If these remains are from a whatcheeriid, they extend the range of the family into the Late Devonian and suggest that advanced tetrapods may have lived alongside primitive tetrapod ancestors like Hynerpeton and Densignathus.^[1] They also imply that a very long ghost lineage of whatcheeriids lived through Romer's gap, a period during the Early Carboniferous conspicuously lacking in tetrapod remains.^[2]

Classification

Currently, using modern cladistic taxonomy, Whatcheeriidae is not placed in Amphibia or any other class but simply as its own family within stem-group tetrapods. The analysis below was conducted by Swartz in 2012, showing the relationship of whatcheeriids with other stem-tetrapods.^[3]

References

• Taxonomicon article on Whatcheeriidae
• Zipcode Zoo article on Whatcheeriidae

Notes and References

1. Daeschler . E.B. . Clack, J.A. . Shubin, N.H. . 2009 . Late Devonian tetrapod remains from Red Hill, Pennsylvania, USA: how much diversity? . Acta Zoologica . 90 . s1 . 306–317 . 10.1111/j.1463-6395.2008.00361.x.
2. Smithson . T.R. . Wood, S.P. . Marshall, J.E.A. . Clack, J.A. . 2012 . Earliest Carboniferous tetrapod and arthropod faunas from Scotland populate Romer's Gap . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America . 109. 12 . 10.1073/pnas.1117332109 . 22393016 . 3311392 . 4532–4537. 2012PNAS..109.4532S . free .
3. Swartz . B. . 2012 . A marine stem-tetrapod from the Devonian of Western North America . PLOS ONE . 22448265 . 7 . 3 . 3308997 . e33683 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0033683 . 2012PLoSO...733683S . free .