Eucritta

‭Y‬ew-crit-tah.
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Liam Carter

Paleoanthropologist

Liam Carter explores the roots of humanity by studying early human fossils and artifacts. His ground-breaking work has provided a deeper understanding of our ancestors' lifestyles and social structures.

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Name

Eucritta.

Phonetic

‭Y‬ew-crit-tah.

Named By

Jennifer A.‭ ‬Clack‭ ‬-‭ ‬1998.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Tetrapoda,‭ ‬Loxommatidae.

Diet

Insectivore.

Species

E.‭ ‬melanolimnetes

Size

Known skulls range between 3 and 9 centimetres long.

Known locations

Scotland.

Time Period

Visean of the Carboniferous.

Fossil representation

Partial skeleton.

In Depth

       The discoverer had a bit of fun with this as Eucritta melanolimnetes translates to‭ ‘‬creature from the black lagoon‭’‬.‭ ‬Unlike its more famous Hollywood name sake who was depicted as a humanoid,‭ ‬Eucritta was a tiny predator that hunted insects.‭ ‬Eucritta superficially seems to be like other primitive amphibians but has also developed a palate,‭ ‬a reptilian characteristic.‭ ‬This mix of characteristics makes determining Eucritta’s phylogenetic position awkward.

Further Reading

– A new Early Carboniferous tetrapod with a m�lange of crown-group characters. Nature 394:66-69. – J. A. Clack – 1998. – Eucritta melanolimnetes from the Early Carboniferous of Scotland, a stem tetrapod showing a mosaic of characteristics. – Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 92 (1): 75–95. – J. A. Clack – 2001.

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