Eucritta

Name: Eucritta.
Phonetic: ‭Y‬ew-crit-tah.
Named By: Jennifer A.‭ ‬Clack‭ ‬-‭ ‬1998.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Tetrapoda,‭ ‬Loxommatidae.
Species: E.‭ ‬melanolimnetes (type).
Diet: Insectivore.
Size: Known skulls range between 3 and 9 centimetres long.
Known locations: Scotland.
Time period: Visean of the Carboniferous.
Fossil representation: Partial skeleton.

       The discoverer had a bit of fun with this as Eucritta melanolimnetes translates to‭ ‘‬creature from the black lagoon‭’‬.‭ ‬Unlike its more famous Hollywood name sake who was depicted as a humanoid,‭ ‬Eucritta was a tiny predator that hunted insects.‭ ‬Eucritta superficially seems to be like other primitive amphibians but has also developed a palate,‭ ‬a reptilian characteristic.‭ ‬This mix of characteristics makes determining Eucritta’s phylogenetic position awkward.




Further reading
- A new Early Carboniferous tetrapod with a m�lange of crown-group characters. Nature 394:66-69. - J. A. Clack - 1998.
- Eucritta melanolimnetes from the Early Carboniferous of Scotland, a stem tetrapod showing a mosaic of characteristics. - Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 92 (1): 75–95. - J. A. Clack - 2001.

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