Meet Arenaerpeton supinatus! by Vitor-Silva on DeviantArt (original) (raw)
Arenaerpeton supinatus, newly described amphibian that lived during the Early-Middle Triassic in Australia.
This temnospondyl is known from an almost complete fossil, exposed in ventral view, measuring 94 cm in length not counting the tail, which was missing. Arenaerpeton further demonstrates how its family was well-established in Australia throughout the Mesozoic, marking an intermediate in size and time that adds to the sequence of other Chigustisauridae recorded in the country - the smaller Kerobrachyops from the Lower Triassic and the larger Siderops and Koolasuchus from the Jurassic and Cretaceous, respectively.
The fossil has soft tissue impressions that suggest a smooth skin, somewhat wider than the skeleton on the abdomen, possibly showing post-morten bloating. It is not ruled out that such expansion of the skin is due to the compression that occurred during fossilization or, actually, to the natural girth in life.
In the image, the predator advances to snatch a Cleithrolepis. At the invitation of the authors, I had the pleasure to produce the life reconstruction of Arenaerpeton for the article!
Check the paper here: