First occurrence of temnospondyls from the Permian and Triassic of Turkey: Paleoenvironmental and paleobiogeographic implications

Abstract

Permian and Triassic tetrapods are very rare in Turkey. Yet this group bears important paleoenvironmental and paleogeographical signals to better understand Pangean models, and especially the geodynamic history of the Permian and Triassic in Turkey, which remains highly debated. Here we present and describe the first temnospondyls from Turkey (SE Anatolia) which consist of a Middle Permian branchiosaurid and an Early Triassic stereospondyl. The branchiosaurid is the first representative of its group in Gondwana and the first from the Middle Permian: it therefore brings important paleogeographic implications and supports the hypothesis that anamniotic tetrapods may have used trans-Pangean migration routes between Europe and Gondwana. It also brings new data to the debated depositional environment of the Permian of SE Anatolia. The Triassic stereospondyl represents one of the few tetrapods known from paleoequatorial areas and confirms a relatively rapid faunal turnover of the anamniotic fauna after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction.