title: Comparative 3D analyses and palaeoecology of giant early amphibians (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli).
abstract: Macroevolutionary, palaeoecological and biomechanical analyses in deep time offer the possibility to decipher the structural constraints, ecomorphological patterns and evolutionary history of extinct groups. Here, 3D comparative biomechanical analyses of the extinct giant early amphibian group of stereospondyls together with living lissamphibians and crocodiles, shows that: i) stereospondyls had peculiar palaeoecological niches with proper bites and stress patterns very different than those of giant salamanders and crocodiles; ii) their extinction may be correlated with the appearance of neosuchians, which display morphofunctional innovations. Stereospondyls weathered the end-Permian mass extinction, re-radiated, acquired gigantic sizes and dominated (semi) aquatic ecosystems during the Triassic. Because these ecosystems are today occupied by crocodilians, and stereospondyls are extinct amphibians, their palaeobiology is a matter of an intensive debate: stereospondyls were a priori compared with putative living analogous such as giant salamanders and/or crocodilians and our new results try to close this debate.
authors.affiliation: Institut Català de Paleontologia M. Crusafont. Z building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, CP: 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.|Centre de Recherches en Paléobiodiversité et Paléoenvironnements, UMR 7202 CNRS-MNHN-UPMC, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Bâtiment de Paléontologie, CP38, 8 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fortuny
authors.affiliation: Centrum für Naturkunde, University of Hamburg, CP: 20146 Hamburg, Germany.|Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech, CP: 08222 Terrassa, Spain.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marcé-Nogué
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherches en Paléobiodiversité et Paléoenvironnements, UMR 7202 CNRS-MNHN-UPMC, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Bâtiment de Paléontologie, CP38, 8 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France.
authors.forename: J-Sébastien
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Steyer
authors.affiliation: Institut Català de Paleontologia M. Crusafont. Z building, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, CP: 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.|Transmitting Science, CP: 08784 Piera, Spain.
authors.forename: Soledad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Esteban-Trivigno
authors.affiliation: Departament de Geologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, CP: 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eudald
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mujal
authors.affiliation: Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech, CP: 08222 Terrassa, Spain.
authors.forename: Lluís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gil
mesh_terms: D000489:Alligators and Crocodiles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics; D000663:Amphibians / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D017753:Ecosystem; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D010802:Phylogeny; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D014562:Caudata / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics