Oestocephalus

Oestocephalus; Temporal range: Carboniferous
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Amphibia
Subclass:	Lepospondyli
Order:	Aïstopoda
Family:	Oestocephalidae
Genus:	Oestocephalus; Cope, 1868
Species
	O. amphiuminus Cope, 1868 (type); O. nanum Hancock & Atthey, 1868;

Oestocephalus is an extinct genus of aïstopod lepospondyl that lived during the Carboniferous period. Fossils have been found in the Czech Republic, and in Ohio and Illinois in the United States. It is the type genus of the family Oestocephalidae, although it used to be assigned to the family Ophiderpetontidae, which is now considered paraphyletic.^[1] It was named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1868 and now contains two species, O. amphiuminus and O. nanum.

References

^ Anderson, J. S. (2003). Cranial anatomy of Coloraderpeton brilli, postcranial anatomy of Oestocephalus amphiuminus, and reconsideration of Ophiderpentontidae (Tetrapoda: Lepospondyli: Aistopoda). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23(3):532-543.