page_title: Loxomma
section_title: Skull and dentition
hierarchical_section_title: Loxomma / Description / Skull and dentition
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology Identifier: annalsmagazineof4141874lond (find matches) Year: 1840 (1840s) Authors: Subjects: Natural history; Zoology; Botany; Geology Publisher: London, Taylor and Francis, Ltd Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: Ann.kMag.Nat.MxI. S. I. Voi.U.Pl.YL. Text Appearing After Image: Wm Dinning del R MinUrn lith. LOXOMMA ALLMANNI.HUX. Mintern Bros.imp Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: Loxomma is an extinct genus of Loxommatinae and one of the first Carboniferous tetrapods. They were first described in 1862 and further described in 1870 when two more craniums were found. It is mostly associated with the area of the United Kingdom. They share features with modern reptiles as well as with fish. They had 4 paddle-like limbs that they used to swim in lakes, but they breathed air. Their diet consisted mostly of live fish. They are of the order Baphetidae which are distinguished by their keyhole shaped orbits, while Loxomma themselves are distinguished by the unique texture on their skulls, said to be honeycomb-like.
context_section_description: Loxomma and the family Baphetidae are distinct by their large and irregular orbits that have a forwardly directed extension, creating a keyhole shaped orbit. There is a unique pitting on the exposed surfaces of the cranial bones in Loxomma often described as being honeycomb-shaped or net-like that can be used as a distinguishing feature. When looking at the upper surface of the skull it looks like that of Archegosaurus or an alligator of the Crocodilia order, however, the snout and the whole skull is actually broader than that of an alligator.
  Large Labyrinthodonts have their lower jaw greatly prolonged behind the hinge to give additional leverage to muscles. Loxomma do not have this feature. Instead they have a hinge at the very end of the lower jaw; in this way they lose some mechanical advantages and power in their bite but gain speed instead.
  The jaws and palates have a battery of large, curved, and slightly keeled teeth.
  On the upper jaw there is a pair of vomerine tusks, and two pairs of palatal tusks with 5 or 6 smaller teeth between each of the pairs. Each pair of tusks has a depression for two teeth on each side of the jaw with only one tooth present at a time. It was one thought that the empty depression was fit for the teeth of the lower jaw in order to close the mouth, but upon further inspection small bits of tooth could be seen in the empty depressions showing that there was a tooth there once. The size of the teeth varies on the upper and the lower jaw, the larger teeth being more anchored into the mandible than the smaller ones on the lower jaw.
caption: Drawing of parts of the mandible of Loxomma
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