Previously described and new specimens of the anthracosaur Silvanerpeton miripedes from the Scottish Viséan of East Kirkton yield important new data which allow us to provide a more complete reconstruction of the skull roof, palate, braincase and lower jaw. A stout sacral rib and an incompletely ossified tarsus with a subquadrangular intermedium are also recorded for the first time. A remarkably well preserved humerus in extensor view shows similarities with humeri of immature specimens of the embolomere Proterogyrinus. A new cladistic analysis, built from combining characters used in two recent matrices, places Silvanerpeton in a basal position relative to embolomeres and more derived stem amniotes. Data from Silvanerpeton inform character polarity near the base of the amniote total group. We discuss some morphofunctional implications of character changes at the root of total group amniotes, acquisition of terrestrial habits, and patterns of early disparity in this clade.

The development of the skeleton of the small temnospondyl Acanthostomatops vorax is described, based on 32 specimens from the Lower Rotliegend of Niederhäslich in Saxony. Both individually and ontogenetically, the skull table, length of gape, and dentition of the parasphenoid are broadly variable. The stapes has a short and straight shaft and a well-defined two-headed proximal region. Small specimens have three or four pairs of ossified ceratobranchials in the gill region, while the adult hyobranchium is composed of four pairs of hypobranchials and probably some additional elements. The postcranium is characterised by a stout and well-ossified humerus that is already large in small larvae, a minute rectangular interclavicle, a robust but short femur, a relatively short trunk with 21–22 presacrals and a moderate tail with 28 vertebrae. In adults, the trunk skeleton became proportionally shorter and the femur smaller with respect to skull length. Metamorphosis is best indicated by the disappearance of the larval gill skeleton, which was probably resorbed, while the structure of the limbs and axial skeleton as well as the absence of lateral line sulci suggest a terrestrial existence for adults.