Hynerpeton

Hy-ner-pe-ton.
Published on

Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Hynerpeton (Creeping animal from Hyner).

Phonetic

Hy-ner-pe-ton.

Named By

E. B. Daeschler, N. H. Shubin, K.S. Thomson & W.W. Amaral - 1994.

Classification

Chordata, Amphibia, Ichthyostegalia, Ichthyostegidae.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

H. bassetti

Size

Incomplete remains make it difficult to determine the size, but roughly estimated to be about 70 centimetres long.

Known locations

USA, Pennsylvania, Red Hill.

Time Period

Famennian of the Devonian.

Fossil representation

Several bones.

In Depth

       The fact the remains of Hynerpeton were recovered from the US state of Pennsylvania makes Hynerpeton the first amphibian tetrapod known from the USA, and North America if you don’t count the other species recovered from Greenland. The discovery of Hynerpeton in the US has altered the perception of how Tetrapods colonised the land, but the exact ramifications will not be easy to establish without significant further material, either of Hynerpeton, or other early amphibians. What can be established from the sparse fossil material is that Hynerpeton was one of the more primitive amphibians to have a terrestrial as well as aquatic lifestyle.

Further Reading

– A Devonian Tetrapod from North America. – Science 265(5172):639-642. – E. B. Daeschler, N. H. Shubin, K.S. Thomson & W.W. Amaral – 1994.

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