Whatcheeriidae

Whatcheeriidae Temporal range: 358.9–330.9 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Early Carboniferous
Pederpes finneyae
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Sarcopterygii
Clade:	Tetrapodomorpha
Clade:	Stegocephali
Family:	†Whatcheeriidae Clack, 2002
Type genus
†Whatcheeria Lombard and Bolt, 1995
Genera
?Ossinodus Pederpes Whatcheeria

Whatcheeriidae is an extinct family of stem-tetrapods which lived in the Mississippian sub-period, a subdivision of the Carboniferous period. It contains the genera Pederpes, Whatcheeria, and possibly Ossinodus. Fossils of a possible whatcheeriid have been found from the Red Hill locality of Pennsylvania. If these remains are from a whatcheeriid, they extend the range of the family into the Late Devonian and suggest that advanced tetrapods may have lived alongside primitive tetrapod ancestors like Hynerpeton and Densignathus.^[1] They also imply that a very long ghost lineage of whatcheeriids lived through Romer's gap, a period during the Early Carboniferous conspicuously lacking in tetrapod remains.^[2]

Classification

Currently, using modern cladistic taxonomy, Whatcheeriidae is not placed in Amphibia or any other class but simply as its own family within stem-group tetrapods. The analysis below was conducted by Swartz in 2012, showing the relationship of whatcheeriids with other stem-tetrapods.^[3]

Elpistostegalia	Panderichthys Stegocephalia Tiktaalik Elpistostege Elginerpeton Ventastega Acanthostega Ichthyostega Whatcheeriidae Colosteidae Crassigyrinus Baphetidae Crown group Tetrapoda

References

1. Daeschler, E.B.; Clack, J.A.; Shubin, N.H. (2009). "Late Devonian tetrapod remains from Red Hill, Pennsylvania, USA: how much diversity?". Acta Zoologica. 90 (s1): 306–317. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6395.2008.00361.x.
2. Smithson, T.R.; Wood, S.P.; Marshall, J.E.A.; Clack, J.A. (2012). "Earliest Carboniferous tetrapod and arthropod faunas from Scotland populate Romer's Gap". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 109 (12): 4532–4537. Bibcode:2012PNAS..109.4532S. doi:10.1073/pnas.1117332109. PMC 3311392. PMID 22393016.
3. Swartz, B. (2012). "A marine stem-tetrapod from the Devonian of Western North America". PLOS ONE. 7 (3): e33683. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...733683S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033683. PMC 3308997. PMID 22448265.

• Taxonomicon article on Whatcheeriidae
• Zipcode Zoo article on Whatcheeriidae