A new microsaur (Tetrapoda: Lepospondyli) from the Lower Permian of Richards Spur (Fort Sill), Oklahoma

Abstract

Bolterpeton carrolli n.gen. n.sp. is described from the Lower Permian fissure-fill deposits of Richards Spur, Oklahoma. Bolterpeton is united with the gymnarthrid microsaur Cardiocephalus by having teeth compressed labiolingually, a narrow anterior process of the prearticular penetrating the splenial, and the arrangement of the contacts among the splenial, prearticular, and coronoids. It is united with both Cardiocephalus and Euryodus by the size and distribution of the coronoid teeth and the presence of longitudinal striations of enamel on the lingual tooth surface. Unlike those two genera Bolterpeton has peg-like teeth, but it remains unknown whether this represents the primitive condition or a reversal of the massive conical teeth typical of gymnarthrids. Bolterpeton possesses a flat lamina that runs along the lingual surface of the tooth margin. Where two laminae meet at the point of the tooth a labiolingual ridge is formed, which is most pronounced at smaller sizes. Reexamination of Cardiocephalus shows it to have the same morphology on its "incisors." Previous authors have defined teeth bearing this ridge as "weakly bicuspid." If this ridge were homologous with the "strongly bicuspid" condition of lissamphibians, Bolterpeton would provide the first example of this tooth morphology in lepospondyls and would strengthen recent hypotheses suggesting lepospondyls gave rise to some, if not all, modern amphibians.