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Here is a Melanerpeton humbergense. I acquired this lower Permian branchiosaurid recently from a well-known dealer in the Netherlands. I had been eyeing this specimen for some time and decided now would be a good time as ever to pull the trigger on it. Even with some bone missing it was a nice price for a nice creature that probably would have been about 12 centimeters long in life or close to it. Much of the fun of fossils for me is to find and read as much material on them as I can. The most prominent recent paper on Melanerpeton is TIMELESS DESIGN: COLORED PATTERN OF SKIN IN EARLY PERMIAN BRANCHIOSAURIDS (TEMNOSPONDYLI: DISSOROPHOIDEA) (Werneburg 2009) regarding a 19 cm long specimen of Melanerpton tenerum found at Börtewitz in Saxony. This paper describes a "spotted pattern of skin color" which feature patterned spots (gaps in the pigmentation?) of about 2 to 5 millimeters in width. The fossil I own has been identified by the seller as Melanerpeton humbergense and is from a completely different location, Odernheim in Pfalz. I am somewhat confident in those IDs of location and species. The stone closely resembles other branchiosaur specimens from Pfalz I have seen internet photos of. I can find no contra-indicatory features in my fossil to the rather detailed description of M. humbergense in THE INTRARELATIONSHIPS AND EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF THE TEMNOSPONDYL FAMILY BRANCHIOSAURIDAE (Schoch, Milner 2008). M. humbergense is a different species from a different location of a slightly different stratigraphy than M. tenerum. Still, there is color on the stone of my fossil that may suggest a possible pattern of open circles. I present this fossil to the forum for open consideration of this feature. I seek to avoid a confirmation bias and hope to get an understanding of what is there, whether that understanding is positive or negative. Hopefully there are some European collectors here who have seen many of these before in hand, and collectors familiar with the preparatory methods used. Per the seller, there has been no restoration. The fossil seems to show none of the protective surface coating often applied to branchiosaur specimens from other sellers. Factors that may be negative to a confirmation of patterned pigmentation to this specimen: M. tenerum and M. humbergense are different species from different locations from a different stratigraphic period. None of the possible 'patterned circles' seem to be evident on my fossil's tail, only a portion of the thorax, There is no counterpart impression to examine. Per Werneburg "Hundreds of branchiosaurid specimens are known from the vertebrate Lagerstaette Börtewitz, but only one is preserved with colored skin pattern. " This would suggest that finding a branchiosaurid with colored skin pattern would be very improbable. More photos will be posted after this initial photo. Thank you for looking, and I hope you enjoy this little bit of mystery as much as I do.

here are some of my small amphibian individuals called Apateon or Branchiosaurus. They had been found in Rhineland- Pallatinate, Germany, when the digging was allowed. All specimen had been found before 1986 in different locations but all are permian age: 280 - 270 Mio years