Lydekkerina

Moreover, distinctive ridges are present on the underside of the skull roof around the eye sockets, probably to provide structural support.

[6] Robert Broom, a South African paleontologist, provided a more accurate description of the species in 1915 and reassigned it to the new genus Lydekkerina, named after Lydekker.

Some paleontologists have proposed that variations in skull shape among specimens represent deformities rather than true morphologies.

In 2006, it was proposed that the South African lydekkerinids Limnoiketes and Broomulus were synonymous with Lydekkerina for this reason.

[12] Temnospondyl remains from the Early Triassic Rewan Formation of Queensland, Australia, were described in 2006 and assigned to Lydekkerina huxleyi.

These remains possess characters diagnostic of Lydekkerina such as the ridges underneath the skull roof and the vomerine shagreen.

The sensory system of pressure-sensitive sulci across the skull is poorly developed, suggesting that Lydekkerina had little use for these organs in a land environment.

[3] The skeleton of Lydekkerina is similar to those of early stereospondyl relatives such as the archegosauroids, but bears little resemblance to those of the exclusively terrestrial Permian temnospondyls.

Lydekkerina huxleyi skull.
Life restoration of L. huxleyi