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Ariekanerpeton
Temporal range: Early Permian 284 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Seymouriamorpha
Family: Discosauriscidae
Genus: Ariekanerpeton
Ivakhnenko, 1981
Species

A. sigalovi Ivakhnenko, 1981 ( type)

Ariekanerpeton is an extinct genus of seymouriamorph from the lower Permian. Fossils have been found from Tajikistan representing over 900 individuals of various stages of ontogenic development. [1] However, it is thought that none of these specimens are of fully mature animals as poor bone ossification is present and the neural arches are paired and disarticulated from the pleurocentra. [2]

Ariekanerpeton is thought to have been more closely related to Discosauriscus and Seymouria than to Utegenia due to the absence of gastralia or a postorbital- supratemporal contact. However, it is not a member of the family Discosauriscidae or the family Seymouriidae. There are no dermal scales present on post-metamorphic specimens as there are on Discosauriscus. [3] Lateral lines are present in the skulls of larval individuals but are lost soon after metamorphosis. Unlike Utegenia and Discosauriscus, Ariekanerpeton is thought to have inhabited relatively arid environments. [4]

References

  1. ^ Ivakhnenko, M. F. (1981). Discosauriscidae from the Permian of Tadzhikistan. Paleontological Journal 1:114–128.
  2. ^ "Ariekanerpeton sigalovi".
  3. ^ Laurin, Michel (1996). "A reevaluation of Ariekanerpeton, a Lower Permian seymouriamorph (Vertebrata: Seymouriamorpha) from Tadzhikistan". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (4): 653–665. Bibcode: 1996JVPal..16..653L. doi: 10.1080/02724634.1996.10011355.
  4. ^ Malakhov, D. M. (200). The topography of the lateral line organs on the skull of Utegenia shpinari. Biota 1(2):21-26.
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