Amphibamus is a genus of amphibamid temnospondyl amphibians from the Carboniferous (middle Pennsylvanian) of North America.[1][2][3] This animal is considered to have been close to the ancestry of modern amphibians. Its length was about 20 centimetres (7.9 in).[4]

Amphibamus
Temporal range: late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian)
Amphibamus grandiceps
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Temnospondyli
Family: Amphibamidae
Genus: Amphibamus
Cope, 1865
Species:
A. grandiceps
Binomial name
Amphibamus grandiceps
Cope, 1865

The generic name Amphibamus alludes to the two modes of locomotion of the animal, swimming with its oar-shaped tail, and crawling because of its long fingers with claws,[5] from Greek ἀμφί (amphí) "both" and -βάμων (-bámōn) "that goes" or βᾶμα (bâma) "leg".

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Gaining Ground: The Origin and Early Evolution of Tetrapods by Jennifer A. Clack
  2. ^ Vertebrate Palaeontology by Michael J. Benton
  3. ^ The Book of Life: An Illustrated History of the Evolution of Life on Earth, Second Edition by Stephen Jay Gould
  4. ^ Temnospondyli
  5. ^ Cope, Edward (1865). "On Amphibamus Grandiceps, a New Batrachian from the Coal Measures". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 17 (3): 134–137. Retrieved October 29, 2023.