Siderops
Extinct genus of amphibians
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Siderops (from the Greek sideros meaning “iron” and -ops meaning “face” ) is an extinct genus of chigutisaurid temnospondyl from Early Jurassic of Australia, containing the species S. kehli (named after the Kehl family of ‘Kolane’, Wandoan, Queensland where the fossil was found).
| Siderops | |
|---|---|
| |
| Holotype skeleton | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Tetrapoda |
| Order: | †Temnospondyli |
| Suborder: | †Stereospondyli |
| Family: | †Chigutisauridae |
| Genus: | †Siderops Warren and Hutchinson, 1983 |
| Species: | †S. kehli |
| Binomial name | |
| †Siderops kehli Warren and Hutchinson, 1983 [1] | |
Discovery
It is solely known from the holotype specimen, which consists of a nearly complete skull with mandible and postcrania were found within the Westgrove Ironstone Member of the Evergreen Formation of the Surat Basin in Queensland.[1] Dating to the late Toarcian at approximately 176.6 ma.[2] Siderops was large, with a skull width 70 cm (28 in) wide and a total length of 2.6–2.7 m (8.5–8.9 ft).[3][4]
Classification
Siderops belongs to the clade Brachyopomorpha, a subdivision of the greater clade Temnospondyl and placed in the superfamily Brachyopoidea and belonging in the Chigutisauridae family.[1] Shown below is a cladogram of Brachyopoidea adapted from Warren et al. (1983) and Ruta et al. (2007).[1][5]
