Recumbirostra


Recumbirostra is a clade of lepospondyl amphibians from the Carboniferous and Permian that includes the families Pantylidae, Gymnarthridae, Ostodolepidae, Goniorhynchidae, Brachystelechidae, and Microbrachidae. Recumbirostra was erected as a clade in 2007. It includes many lepospondyls traditionally grouped in "Microsauria", which has since been shown to be a paraphyletic grouping. Not all phylogenetic analyses recognize Recumbirostra as a valid grouping. An alternative clade called Tuditanomorpha is occasionally supported and includes many of the same taxa. Below is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic relationships of recumbirostrans from Glienke :
Most authors consider recumbirostrans to be lepospondyl amphibians; however, phylogenetic analyses conducted by Pardo, Szostakiwskyj and Anderson and Pardo et al. recovered them as sauropsid amniotes instead.