page_title: Edopoidea
section_title: Classification
hierarchical_section_title: Edopoidea / Classification
caption_attribution_description: Edops craigi
context_page_description: Edopoidea is a clade of primitive temnospondyl amphibians including the genus Edops and the family Cochleosauridae. Edopoids are known from the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian of North America and Europe, and the Late Permian of Africa. They are among the most basal temnospondyls, and possess a number of primitive features that were lost in later members of the group.
context_section_description: Edopoidea was named as a superfamily of temnospondyls by American paleontologist Alfred Romer in the second edition of his textbook Vertebrate Paleontology, published in 1945. He recognized a close relationship between the families Edopidae (which includes only Edops) and Cochleosauridae. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the relationship between these two groups was supported by many phylogenetic analyses. One phylogenetic analysis separated Edops and cochleosaurids, finding the cochleosaurids to group with more derived temnospondyls like Archegosaurus. However, the skull characteristics used in this analysis are common to almost all temnospondyls with elongated skulls, and are not strong evidence of evolutionary relationships because long snouts could easily have appeared through evolutionary convergence. Most recent phylogenetic analyses support a sister group relationship between Edops and Cochleosauridae, meaning that they are each other's closest relatives. Edopoids are usually placed at the base of Temnospondyli along with other primitive forms like Dendrerpeton, Balanerpeton, and Capetus. Below is a cladogram showing the relationships of edopoids from Sidor et al. (2006):
caption: Life restoration of Edops craigi, the most basal edopoid
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