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A partial lower jaw of a tetrapod from “Romer's Gap”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2018

Donglei Chen ,
Yasaman Alavi ,
Martin D. Brazeau ,
Henning Blom ,
David Millward  and
Per E. Ahlberg
Donglei Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
Yasaman Alavi
Affiliation:
School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
Martin D. Brazeau
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK.
Henning Blom
Affiliation:
Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
David Millward
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, The Lyell Centre, Research Avenue South, Edinburgh EH14 4AP, UK.
Per E. Ahlberg
Affiliation:
Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18A, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
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Abstract

The first half of the Mississippian or Early Carboniferous (Tournaisian to mid- Viséan), an interval of about 20 million years, has become known as “Romer's Gap” because of its poor tetrapod record. Recent discoveries emphasise the differences between pre-“Gap” Devonian tetrapods, unambiguous stem-group members retaining numerous “fish” characters indicative of an at least partially aquatic lifestyle, and post-“Gap” Carboniferous tetrapods, which are far more diverse and include fully terrestrial representatives of the main crown-group lineages. It seems that “Romer's Gap” coincided with the cladogenetic events leading to the origin of the tetrapod crown group. Here, we describe a partial right lower jaw ramus of a tetrapod from the late Tournaisian or early Viséan of Scotland. The large and robust jaw displays a distinctive character combination, including a significant mesial lamina of the strongly sculptured angular, an open sulcus for the mandibular lateral line, a non-ossified narrow Meckelian exposure, a well-defined dorsal longitudinal denticle ridge on the prearticular, and a mesially open adductor fossa. A phylogenetic analysis places this specimen in a trichotomy with Crassigyrinus and baphetids + higher tetrapods in the upper part of the tetrapod stem group, above Whatcheeria, Pederpes, Ossinodus, Sigournea and Greererpeton. It represents a small but significant step in the gradual closure of “Romer's Gap”.

Keywords

Early CarboniferousfossilpalaeontologyTantallon Castle
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Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 108 , Issue 1: A Legacy in Fossils: a Tribute to Stan Wood , March 2017 , pp. 55 - 65
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Copyright © The Royal Society of Edinburgh 2018 

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