REAPPRAISAL OF THE EARLY PERMIAN AMPHIBAMID TERSOMIUS TEXENSIS AND SOME REFERRED MATERIAL

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bstract The accuracy of the taxonomic assignment of three skulls in the collections of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard University) to the Early Permian taxon Tersomius texensis has been called into question. Here, we re-evaluate the holotype of T. texensis and the three MCZ specimens within the context of discoveries made over the last few years. The results of our phylogenetic analyses corroborate our morphological assessments, revealing that only one of the three skulls (MCZ 1912) is assignable to T. texensis. We identify MCZ 1415 as Pasawioops cf. P. mayi, otherwise known only from Oklahoma, and MCZ 1911 as a new genus and species of dissorophid. Study of the three MCZ skulls reveals previously unrecognized diversity of temnospondyls in the coastal fauna represented in the Archer City Formation of Texas.v