Seymouria, an amphibian on

the verge of becoming a reptile.

 Reptiles – The Pivotal Tetrapods

Reptiles hold a special place in vertebrate evolution as they are the stem group
from which all other advanced tetrapods (animals with four limbs) derive.

Of course, reptiles had to come from somewhere and that story is fascinating
as well, but is too long to tell in detail for this course, though I will give a (very)
brief summary over the next few slides.

What is of greater importance is the diversification of reptiles once they make

their appearance and how life on Earth was never quite the same after that.

Modern Reptiles
Mammals Birds

Ancient Reptiles

Amphibians

Fish

Cephalochordates
Cephalochordates Amphibians Mammals Birds Reptiles Fish

2
1. Well defined head; notochord.
2. Skeleton; paired appendages.
3. Lungs; four limbs. 1
4. Waterproof skin; shelled eggs.
5. Hair; live birth.
6. Flight feathers.
 Most modern fish are ray-fin fishes, meaning their fins are
supported by thin bony rods. Lobefin fishes have fins supported by
strong bony elements that are similar in plan to the arm and leg
bones of advanced tetrapods.

Pectoral fin showing the

typically thin, bony rods of ray-fin
fishes. Ventral paired fins of the rhipidistian
Eusthenopteron showing the bony
elements similar in shape and position
to those of land tetrapods.
 Ray-fin fishes Lobefin fishes

Limbs used for

locomotion on land.

Primitive lung.
Bony skeleton, swim bladder.
Jaws, paired fins, cartilaginous skeleton.

Jawless, no paired fins, cartilaginous skeleton.

Simplified cladogram of living fishes leading to tetrapods.

Several extinct fish groups are omitted.
 Tetrapods arose from the lobefin fishes which include the living
coelacanths, lungfish and the extinct rhipidisitsians. It is from this
last group that tetrapods derive.

Coelacanth.

Rhipidisitsian fossils.

Lungfish.
Lobe-finned fishes – Rhipidistians

Tiktaalik roseae, described in 2004 from

the Late Devonian (375 Ma), is an
intermediary between classic rhipidistian
fishes and tetrapods.
 Lobe-finned fishes
Rhipidistians

Reconstruction of Tiktaalik roseae.

Tiktaalik had the characteristics of a lobe-finned fish, but with front fins
featuring arm-like skeletal structures more like a tetrapod, including a shoulder,
elbow, and wrist. The rear fins and tail have not yet been found. It has rows of
sharp teeth of a predatory fish, and its neck was able to move independently of
its body, which is not possible in other fish.

Tiktaalik also had a flat skull resembling a crocodile’s; eyes on top of its head,
suggesting it spent a lot of time looking up; a neck and ribs similar to those of
tetrapods, with the latter being used to support its body and aid in breathing via
lungs.
 Skeletal comparison of the rhipidistian Eusthenopteron (above) and the
tetrapod ancestor Acanthostega (below).
 Icythyostega and Acanthostega

These two Late Devonian genera

represent intermediary forms between the
lobe-finned fishes and true amphibians.

Having anatomical features of both

groups, they can be classified as either
very advanced fish or very primitive
amphibians. They are often referred to as
“stem amphibians” indicating their position
at the base of the amphibian evolutionary
tree.
Reconstructions of (a) Acanthostega
and (b) Ichthyostega

Fish Characteristics Tetrapod Characterstics

Preopercular bone at back of skull Robust shoulder and forelimbs
Lateral sensory lines on skull Robust pelvis and hind limbs
Palatal teeth
Swimming tail with bony rays
More than 5 digits on hand and foot

There is some debate as to whether their limbs were strong enough to support
their weight on land for long periods of time. Instead, they may have walked
along riverbeds, only occasionally venturing onto land. In this model, walking
evolved before the transition to a land-based life rather than because of it.
 Reconstruction of Ichthyostega.

Forelimb and hind limb of Ichthyostega.

femur

humerus
Both sets of limbs end in 7 or 8 digits.
Some digits derive from the larger of the
radius ulna paired limb bones (radius and tibia) and
tibia fibula
carpal others from the smaller (ulna and fibula).
tarsals
In more advanced tetrapods, the radial and
tibial digits are lost (except
radial embryologically in some amphibians) and
digits tibial only the digits from the smaller of the
ulnal fibular
digits
digits digits
paired limb bones fully develop. Today, the
maximum number of digits is 5.
 Skull morphology during the
transition from fish to amphibian.

The rhipidistian lobefin fish

Eusthenopeteron has a complete
set of bones behind the squamosal
(sq) including the preopercular
(pop) and opercular (o) which
covered the gills. The skull also
Eusthenopteron
has lateral lines (highlighted in (rhipidistian
blue) used to detect movement, lobefin fish)
vibration, and pressure gradients
under water.

temporal
In the transitional form of notch
Ichthyostega, only the preopercular
bone is retained behind the
squamosal, but lateral lines are
retained indicating it still lived
under water most of the time. The
skull has also developed a temporal Ichthyostega
notch. (transitional form to
true amphibians)

The early amphibian t st it

temporal pf f
Dendrerpeton has lost the po
notch
preopercular bone and lateral lines sq prf
indicating it lived on land, but j l n pm
retained the temporal notch. This qj
notch will be lost in reptiles. m Dendrerpeton
sa (early amphibian)
a d
 Anthracosaurs - The Advanced Amphibians

Anthracosaurs were a group of tetrapods intermediate between amphibians and

reptiles that flourished during the Carboniferous and Permian.

Their group name means “coal-lizards” as many of the fossils were recovered from
coal measures. The fact they were called coal-lizards shows that they were originally
considered the earliest reptiles. Of these, Seymouria from the Permian of Texas is the
best known.

More detailed examination of Seymouria and other related genera has shown them to
be not true reptiles but a type of advanced amphibian.

Seymouria
 Westlothiana

Westlothiana lizzae was a Carboniferous tetrapod which contained

a mixture of both early tetrapod and reptilian features and was
originally regarded as the first reptile. It has since been classified as
an advanced amphibian.
 The advanced amphibian The primitive reptile The advanced reptile
Seymouria. Paleothyris. Petrolacosaurus.

The transition from amphibian to reptile can be seen in the change in the
shrinking and loss of some of the bones of the skull. Between Seymouria and
Paleothyris, there is a loss of the intertemporal (it) bones and reduction in the
size of the supratemporal (st), tabular (t) and postparietal (pp) bones. In more
advanced reptiles, some of these reduced bones are also lost.

Note: The maxillary (m) bone is not missing on Paleothyris. It simply cannot
be seen from the top view.