| Aïstopoda | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ophiderpeton, a genus of aïstopod. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subclass: | †Lepospondyli |
| Order: | †Aïstopoda |
Aïstopoda (Greek for "[having] not-visible feet") is an order of highly specialised lepospondyls known from the Carboniferous and Early Permian of Europe and North America, ranging from tiny forms only 5 centimetres (2 in), to nearly 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length. The first appear in the fossil record in the Mississippian period and continue through to the Early Permian.
The skull is small but very specialised, with large orbits, and large fenestrae. The primitive form Ophiderpeton has a pattern of dermal bones in the skull similar in respects to the temnospondyls. But in the advanced genus Phlegethontia the skull is very light and open, reduced to a series of struts supporting the braincase against the lower jaw, just as in snakes, and it is possible that the aïstopods filled the same ecological niches in the Paleozoic that snakes do today.