Pederpes

Pederpes ( Pederpes finneyae, Pederpes finneyi ) is a primitive four-legged ("amphibian") beginning of the Early Carboniferous era . The only four-legged of this era, known for a fairly complete skeleton. Pederpes fills the so-called “Romer’s failure” - a gap of about 20 million years between the Late Devonian (the time of existence of primitive aquatic tetrapods like ichthyostegs and acanthostegs ) and the appearance of true tetrapods in the Early Carboniferous.

† Pederpes
Pederpes finneyae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animals Type of: Chordate Subtype: Vertebrates Group: Maxillary Overclass: Tetrapods Grade: Amphibians sensu lato Squad: no data Family: Whatcheeriidae Gender: Pederpes View: Pederpes finneyi
Latin name
Pederpes finneyi

The skeleton of the herpes is found in deposits of Tournaisian time (about 354–344 million years ago) in Scotland. Discovered in 1971, the skeleton has long been stored in the storerooms of the museum in Glasgow as the remnants of a ripidist-rhizodont. Dr. Jennifer Clack and her Cambridge staff discovered that the remains belong to the four-legged. The description, written by D. Clack, was published in 2002.

Pederpes reached a length of about 1 meter (the length of the remaining skeleton - 65 cm, the tail was lost). He had a massive tall and narrow skull with powerful teeth. The grooves of the lateral line are immersed in the bone in the form of channels (as in the carpaceae), the stirrup is similar to the stirrup of the acantostegue. The “ear tenderloin” (which in fact probably contained the splatter) is shallow. There are “fangs” on the openers, the palate is covered with small teeth, closed. Vertebral vertebrae. Ribs widened, reminiscent of ribs of ichthyostega. The limbs are very massive, relatively short. The presence of additional fingers on the hand is not excluded, the foot is five-fingered.

The structure of the limbs as a whole resembles their structure in later tetrapods - that is, the torpedo could move on land. Pederpes is a good example of what the ancestors of terrestrial tetrapods might look like. Unlike the Devonian tetrapods, this animal had real legs. In fact, this is the first animal we know with real legs. It can not be attributed to any of the groups of "amphibians", it is located somewhere at the base of the trunk of these tetrapods.

A relative of the herpes can be the genus Whatcheeria , described in 1995 from several later sediments of the Iowa Early Carboniferous. Together they are united in the Whatcheeriidae family. These are the most primitive of the late Devonian tetrapods. In terms of life, probably the Peredpes and Vatchyrias were semi-terrestrial predators. They could hunt fish and large invertebrates.