Keraterpeton is an extinct genus of "nectridean" tetrapodomorphs, previously included within the monotypic Keraterpedontidae family,Jaekel, O. (1903). Ueber Ceraterpeton, Diceratosaurus u Diplocaulus. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie 1, 109–134. from the Carboniferous period of Europe (Czech Republic, England and Ireland)Brownrigg, W. B. (1865). Notes on part of the Leinster Coalfield, with a record of some fossils found therein. Dublin Quarterly Journal of Science 6, 195–196.Google Scholar and North America (United States);Cope, E. D. (1875). Synopsis of the extinct Batrachia from the Coal Measures. Report of the Geological Survey of Ohio Paleontology 2, 351–411.Cope, E. D. (1881). Catalogue of vertebrata of the Permian formation of the United States. American Naturalist 15, 162–164. it is the oldest known member of the family Diplocaulidae.
Discovery and naming The type species is Keraterpeton galvani, named in 1866 as Ceraterpeton by Robert EtheridgeEtheridge, R. (1866). On the discovery of several new Labyrinthodont reptiles in the coal measures of Ireland. Geological Magazine 3, 4–5. and later amended to Keraterpeton in 1868 by Thomas Henry Huxley and Edward Percival Wright;Wright, E. P. & Huxley, T. H. (1868). On a collection of fossils from the Jarrow Colliery Kilkenny. Geological Magazine 3, 165–171 three years earlier (in November 1865), they were authorised by William Bookey Brownrigg to describe some fossil vertebrates in his collection, and among them was NHMING F 14735, the holotype of Keraterpeton galvani, which was discovered in the Jarrow Colliery in County Kilkenny, Ireland.Wyse Jackson, P. N., DeArce, M. & Monaghan, N. T. (2011). A letter from William Bookey Brownrigg to Thomas Henry Huxley, dated 29 November 1865, authorising him to describe his fossil vertebrates from Jarrow Colliery, Co. Kilkenny and giving details of his find. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences 29, 19–22.
Description
Keraterpeton was a salamander-like creature about long. Its tail was remarkably long taking up two thirds of the animal's total length, and was laterally flattened, presumably to aid in swimming. Its skull was round and short, especially when compared to its Permian relative, Diplocaulus. Its hind legs had five toes, and were longer than the forelimbs, which had only four toes.
Keraterpeton was flattened side-ways, which would have helped push itself through the murky waters of the coal swamps in which it lived. The five-toed hind legs were longer than the four-toed fore-feet and the short, rounded skull had eyes set far forward. Although Keraterpeton had a long body, it did not have more vertebrae than most other amphibian species (15–26 on average).
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