Harajicadectes

Harajicadectes Temporal range: Givetian to Frasnian,
Reconstructed skull and pectoral girdle of Harajicadectes zhumini
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Sarcopterygii
Clade:	Tetrapodomorpha
Genus:	†Harajicadectes Choo et al., 2024
Species:	†H. zhumini
Binomial name
†Harajicadectes zhumini Choo et al., 2024

Harajicadectes (/ˌhærəˌdʒiːkəˈdɛktiːz/, meaning "Harajica biter") is a genus of stem-tetrapod from the Givetian to Frasnian Amadeus Basin in Northern Territory, Australia. The type and only species is Harajicadectes zhumini, known from 13 specimens of various preservation quality.

Description

Choo et al., (2024) assigned a holotype and paratype to Harajicadectes, NTM P6410, and CPC 39948 respectively. The holotype consists of a partial skull and much of the body outline in dorsal view with squamation preserved. The paratype consists of a partial skull, right post-temporal and right lower jaw.

Etymology

The generic name, Harajicadectes, is derived from the member the specimens were found in, the Harajica Sandstone Member, and the Greek 'dēktēs', which translates to 'biter'. The specific name, zhumini, honours Prof. Min Zhu of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing; China, for his numerous contributions to early vertebrate paleontology.

Classification

Choo et al., (2024) recovered Harajicadectes as a stem-tetrapod. They reconstructed two trees collated from 336 most parsimonious trees. The first tree is a strict consensus tree, the numbers represent Bremer support values. The second tree is a 50% majority-rule consensus tree, the numbers are node support bootstrap values. Their results are reproduced below:

Topology A: strict consensus tree

Tetrapodomorpha Tungsenia paradoxa Kenichthys campbelli Rhizodontida Gyroptychius agassizi Osteolepis macrolepidotus Gogonasus andrewsae Cladarosymblema narienense Ectosteorhachis nitidus Megalichthys hibberti Medoevia lata Beelarongia patrichae Canowindra grossi Koharalepis jarviki Harajicadectes zhumini Marsdenichthys longioccipitus Eotetrapodiformes

Topology B: 50% majority-rule consensus tree

Tetrapodomorpha Tungsenia paradoxa Kenichthys campbelli Rhizodontida "Osteolepididae" Harajicadectes zhumini Gyroptychius agassizi Osteolepis macrolepidotus Medoevia lata Gogonasus andrewsae Cladarosymblema narienense Ectosteorhachis nitidus Megalichthys hibberti Beelarongia patrichae Canowindra grossi Koharalepis jarviki Marsdenichthys longioccipitus Eotetrapodiformes