A HIGH-FIBER TETRAPOD, DIADECTES (?) SP., FROM THE MISSISSIPPIAN (CHESTERIAN) OF SOUTH CENTRAL TENNESSEE

A certified and broken lower jaw of a high-fiber tetrapod was found in float adjacent to Mississippian (Chesterian) strata in southern Grundy County, Tennessee. Seven teeth show details of proportions and morphology. The specimen is too poor for a definite generic identification. It resembles Diadectes, which has been viewed as a reptile by some and as an amphibian by others. This is the third fragment of a Diadectes-like organism recorded from the Mississippian, or Lower Carboniferous, and the second from North America. It may be the oldest known high-fiber tetrapod and is the first recorded from the Southeastern states. A measured section describes strata exposed near the fossil site. Each unit is well-known. The fossil is probably derived from the Bangor Formation which, in this area, is a complex of intertidal and supratidal shale-rich, cherty, limestones.