Limnoscelis

Limnoscelis is an extinct genus of large diadectomorph tetrapods from the Late Carboniferous to early Permian of western North America. It includes two species: the type species Limnoscelis paludis from New Mexico, and Limnoscelis dynatis from Colorado, both of which are thought to have lived concurrently. No specimens of Limnoscelis are known from outside of North America. Limnoscelis was carnivorous, and likely semiaquatic, though it may have spent a significant portion of its life on land. Limnoscelis had a combination of derived amphibian and primitive reptilian features, and its placement relative to Amniota has significant implications regarding the origins of the first amniotes.

Limnoscelis

User:Captmondo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
LimnoscelidaePBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
brackish,freshwater,terrestrialPBDB, for Tetrapoda
Length
2 mWikidata

Time the record covers

At most 20 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 306 Mya and 286 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Carboniferous — about 3 of 4 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 1 of 4 occurrencesPermian307–306 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences306–305 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences305–304 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences304–304 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences304–303 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences303–302 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences302–302 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences302–301 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences301–300 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences300–300 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences300–299 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences299–298 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences298–297 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences297–297 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences297–296 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences296–295 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences295–295 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences295–294 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences294–293 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences293–293 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences293–292 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences292–291 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences291–290 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences290–290 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences290–289 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences289–288 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences288–288 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences288–287 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences287–286 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences286–286 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences306.5 Mya285.5 Mya

4 occurrences of Limnoscelis on record, most of them in the Carboniferous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

4 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Sangre de Cristo — 38.49°N, 105.85°WCutler — 36.31°N, 106.35°WAbo/Cutler — 36.16°N, 106.64°W

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The named rock units Limnoscelis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Limnoscelis and its relatives

Carboniferous

Where Limnoscelis and its relatives were recorded in the Carboniferous.

Found in the same rock

30 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 4 sites for Limnoscelis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

3 references

Each of the 4 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Limnoscelis

Credit
User:Captmondo
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itLimnoscelidae through timeFormations of the CarboniferousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Williston 1911