The phylogeny and paleobiology of the early Reptilia

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Johannes Müller
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2003 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5400650

The origin and early evolution of the Eureptilia, a major amniote clade comprising popular animals like snakes, dinosaurs, and birds, is still not satisfactorily understood. Basal eureptiles are currently subdivided into captorhinids and protorothyridids, but the monophyly of the two is not clear, and maybe some taxa are more closely related to the better-known diapsid reptiles. The investigation of newly recovered specimens of the hitherto incompletely known taxon Thuringgothyris from the Lower Permian of Thuringia, whose anatomy appears "intermediate" between captorhinids and protorothyridids, the revision of closely related taxa from North America including studies of the postnatal ontogeny, as well as a phylogenetic analysis of early eureptiles and related taxa will examine the following questions: 1) Are the earliest eureptiles monophyletic or rather a grade leading to the diapsid reptiles? 2) Are ontogenetic trajectories recognizable and useful for an understanding of the biology of early amniotes/eureptiles? 3) Is it possible to develop an explanatory model for the morphological transition leading to the amniote/eureptile anatomy? The results will then be used for fucture investigations, including studies on extant amniotes.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups