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Marine Gerrothorax described

Monday, October 26, 2026 23:01

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Diao et al 2026 described
a 74 cm long armored Gerrothorax, a flattened basal tetrapod from the Late Triassic of China. It was hailed as “the first evidence that amphibians once found a way to adapt to life in the ocean.”

The specimen was found near a 7m long ichthyosaur.

Figure 1. Late Triassic Gerrothorax maritimes was 74cm long. Note the five fingers.

The published cladogram
was totally inadequate employing so few taxa. In the large reptile tree (LRT, subset Fig 3) Gerrothorax and kin nest as the second clade of basal tetrapods, derived from a late surviving Carboniferous Trypanognathus (Fig 2) that greatly resembled late Devonian Panderichthys (Fig 2), trading fins for fingers and not much else.

So a marine niche is no surprise.

Figure 2. Vertebrates at the transition from stem-tetrapod to tetrapod in the LRT. Trypanognathus is the most primitive known tetrapod in the LRT, despite its late appearance in the latest Carboniferous.

Most tetrapod cladograms omit pertinent taxa.
This publication was no different in that respect. Even so, the find presents a wonderful insight into Late Triassic fauna.

Living amphibians are not very tolerant of salt in water. By contrast, basal tetrapods evolved from marine fishes of similar shape and size (Fig 2) that likely lived their entire lives in shallow waters, both fresh and marine, rarely, if ever venturing onto land with such small limbs and digits.

Figure 3. Subset of the LRT focusing on basal tetrapods.

Odd to see plagiosaur blogposts appearing day after day.

Final thoughts
I found no indication in the paper that the Gerrothorax was found near a delta where the specimen could have been washed out to sea from fresh water. Sometimes that happens.

Just a passing thought.
Sometimes the original interpretation overlooks alternate scenarios.

References
Diao L. et al 2026. A fully marine stem amphibian from the Late Triassic of China. Nat Ecol Evol.. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03209-9

Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2026/10/27/marine-gerrothorax-described/

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