Siderops
| Siderops | |
|---|---|
| |
| Holotype skeleton | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Temnospondyli |
| Suborder: | †Stereospondyli |
| Family: | †Chigutisauridae |
| Genus: | †Siderops Warren and Hutchinson, 1983 |
| Species: | †S. kehli
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Siderops kehli Warren and Hutchinson, 1983 [1]
| |
Siderops (from the Greek sideros meaning “iron” and -ops meaning “face”) is an extinct
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).
Discovery
Life restoration
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
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]
