Siderops

Siderops (from the Greek sideros meaning “iron” and -ops meaning “face” ) is an extinct genus of chigutisaurid temnospondyl from Early Jurassic of Australia, containing the species S. kehli (named after the Kehl family of ‘Kolane’, Wandoan, Queensland where the fossil was found).

Siderops Temporal range: Early Jurassic, Late Toarcian ~176.6 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype skeleton
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Temnospondyli
Suborder:	†Stereospondyli
Family:	†Chigutisauridae
Genus:	†Siderops Warren and Hutchinson, 1983
Species:	†S. kehli
Binomial name
†Siderops kehli Warren and Hutchinson, 1983 [1]

Discovery

Life restoration

It is solely known from the holotype specimen, which consists of a nearly complete skull with mandible and postcrania were found within the Westgrove Ironstone Member of the Evergreen Formation of the Surat Basin in Queensland.^[1] Dating to the late Toarcian at approximately 176.6 ma.^[2] Siderops was large, with a skull width 70 cm (28 in) wide and a total length of 2.6–2.7 m (8.5–8.9 ft).^[3][4]

Classification

Siderops belongs to the clade Brachyopomorpha, a subdivision of the greater clade Temnospondyl and placed in the superfamily Brachyopoidea and belonging in the Chigutisauridae family.^[1] Shown below is a cladogram of Brachyopoidea adapted from Warren et al. (1983) and Ruta et al. (2007).^[1][5]

Brachyopoidea	Brachyopidae Sinobrachyops Xenobrachyops Banksiops Batrachosaurus Vanastega Vigilius Batrachosuchus Chigutisauridae Chigutisaurus Compsocerops Kuttycephalus Pelorocephalus Siderops