Pederpes finneyae (Clack 2002; Tournasian, early Carboniferous, 348mya; ~1m in length) was an early tetrapod and the first to have only five toes. Here it nests with Whatcheeria in the Ventastega clade.
Like Whatcheeria, the skull was taller and not as long. The ribs were shorter. The narrow skull suggests that Pederpes breathed by inhaling with a muscular action like most modern tetrapods, rather than by pumping air into the lungs with a throat pouch the way many modern amphibians do.
Whatcheeria deltae (Lombard and Bolt 1995; Early Carboniferous, Viséan, 340 mya1m in length) had longer limbs and nested between Pederpes and Crassigyrinus. Skull above and below. |
