Metoposaurid and mastodonsaurid stereospondyls from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary of Portugal

Remains of stereospondyl amphibians from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary of the Algarve, southern Portugal, are described for the first time. They consist of several intercentra of different sizes, ribs and fragments of the scapular girdle and the skull. The opisthocoelous morphology of some of the disc-like intercentra and the presence of a lateral flange on the clavicle indicate that parts of the material can be referred unambiguously to metoposaurid stereospondyls, representing the first evidence of this group from the Iberian Peninsula. Several other disc-like intercentra that are amphicoelous and thinner than those of the metoposaurids can be referred to mastodonsaurid stereospondyls (either Mastodonsaurus or Cyclotosaurus). The fossil locality is situated in a palaeorift system that linked the known metoposaurid localities in eastern North America, Morocco, and Central Europe.