Amphibian Evolution

Rainer Schoch, born 1970 in Ludwigshafen, Germany. He graduated at the University of Tübingen, undertook field work in Argentina and the USA, and worked as a curator and assistant professor at Humboldt University Berlin. Since 2003 he has been the curator of amphibians and reptiles at the Natural History Museum of Stuttgart, Germany.

• Preface viiiAcknowledgments x1 Introduction 11.1 Changing paradigms in amphibian evolution 31.2 Paleobiology: data, methods, and time scales 51.3 Concepts and metaphors: how scientists “figure out” problems 71.4 Characters and phylogenies 81.5 What’s in a name? 8References 112 The Amphibian World: Now and Then 132.1 Tetrapoda 142.1.1 The tetrapod skeleton 142.1.2 Tetrapod characters 232.1.3 Stem-tetrapods (Tetrapodomorpha) 252.1.4 Carboniferous tetrapods or tetrapodomorphs? 312.2 The amniote stem-group 322.2.1 Anthracosauria 332.2.2 Seymouriamorpha 372.2.3 Chroniosuchia 382.2.4 Lepospondyli 402.2.4.1 Lepospondyl characters 422.2.4.2 Microsauria 422.2.4.3 Lysorophia 442.2.4.4 Nectridea 442.2.4.5 Aïstopoda 452.2.4.6 Adelospondyli 462.2.4.7 Acherontiscidae 462.2.5 Gephyrostegida 462.2.6 Amniota 472.2.6.1 Stem-amniotes and early crown amniotes 482.3 The lissamphibian stem-group (Temnospondyli) 482.3.1 Edopoidea 512.3.2 Dendrerpeton and Balanerpeton 532.3.3 Dvinosauria 542.3.4 Dissorophoidea and Zatracheidae 542.3.5 Eryopoidea 562.3.6 Stereospondyli 572.4 Albanerpetontidae 582.5 Lissamphibia 592.5.1 Lissamphibian characters 612.5.2 Batrachia 622.5.2.1 Anura (frogs and toads) 622.5.2.2 Caudata (salamanders) 672.5.2.3 Gymnophiona (caecilians) 68References 703 Amphibian Life Through Time 813.1 Aquatic predators prepare for land 833.2 Hot springs, scorpions, and little creepers 833.3 Life in the tropical coal forest 853.4 Neotenes explore unfavorable waters 893.5 Lowlands, uplands, and a cave 903.6 Hide and protect: extreme life in the hothouse 943.7 Predators in deltas, lakes, and brackish swamps 973.8 Stereospondyls in refugia, lissamphibians on the rise 973.9 Batrachians diversify, stereospondyls disappear 1003.10 Lissamphibians expand into diverse habitats 101References 1024 The Amphibian Soft Body 1064.1 How to infer soft tissues in extinct taxa 1074.2 Fossil evidence: soft tissue preservation 1094.3 Head and visceral skeleton 1104.4 Respiratory organs 1134.5 Lateral lines, electroreception, and ears 118References 1225 Evolution of Functional Systems 1265.1 How paradigms and brackets give a functional scenario 1275.2 Feeding and breathing under water 1315.3 Decoupling breathing and feeding 1345.4 Hearing: exapting the spiracle and hyomandibula 1365.5 Respiration in early tetrapods 1415.6 The evolution of terrestrial feeding 1435.7 Transforming fins into limbs 1445.8 Locomotion in paleozoic tetrapods 146References 1486 Development and Evolution 1526.1 Ontogeny in modern amphibians 1536.2 Fossil ontogenies 1586.3 Ontogeny as a sequence: developmental trajectories 1636.4 Histology: the skeleton as archive 1676.5 Changing shape: allometry 1716.6 Heterochrony: the evolution of development 1746.7 Body plans: gene regulation and morphogenesis 179References 1847 Paleoecology 1917.1 Lissamphibian ecology 1927.2 Paleoecology: problems and perspectives 1937.3 Paleozoic and Mesozoic amphibians 1967.4 Amphibian evolution as a walk through trophic levels 203References 2058 Life History Evolution 2088.1 Plasticity, reaction norm, and canalization 2098.2 Reaction norms in extant amphibians 2108.3 The biphasic life cycle in lissamphibians 2118.4 Seymouriamorphs: biphasic life cycles without metamorphosis 2138.5 Temnospondyls: flexible uni- and biphasic ontogenies 2138.6 Lepospondyls: dwarfism and uniphasic life cycles 2158.7 The evolution of metamorphosis 2168.8 The evolution of neoteny 2168.9 General features of life history evolution 217References 2199 Phylogeny 2229.1 Phylogeny of amphibians 2239.2 The big picture: tetrapod diversification 2239.3 The origin of lissamphibians 224References 23110 Macroevolution 23410.1 What is macroevolution? 23510.2 Patterns of early tetrapod evolution 23510.3 Major factors of amphibian evolution 24010.4 Clades, space, and time 24810.5 Diversity, disparity, and extinction 24910.6 The evolution of terrestriality 252References 254Index 260

“Amphibian Evolution delivers a wide-ranging synthesis of viewpoints and data on early tetrapods and the ancestry of lissamphibians. This conveniently sized volume suits a higher-level undergraduate course on palaeobiology or introductory graduate class. Clearly written and illustrated, the text provides just enough historical context to give a sense of where the topics come from and where new developments seem to be heading… In summary, this is a thoroughly useful volume to have on your shelf (as well as recommending several copies for the college library).” (Acta Zoologica, July 2017)“In summary, this is a comprehensive work that could be used as a guide to focus on specific aspects of one of the most exciting chapters of vertebrate history.”  (Ameghiniana, 1 April 2015)“It provides rewarding reading, useful for students and researchers/professionals studying amphibians as well as other vertebrates.  Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.”  (Choice, 1 December 2014)