In instructional anatomy labs across the country, we see an increased use of rabbits in place of cats due to availability for teaching comparative anatomy, and as a result, the number of resources supporting rabbit anatomy education is on the rise. A common discrepancy in many sources requires a deeper investigation of both the physical anatomy and the historical literature regarding certain scapular muscles. A thin, superficial muscle overlies and completely covers the supraspinatus in rabbits and various other mammals, and as such has often been misidentified as the supraspinatus. We present clarification of this muscle in the rabbit as a rising model for anatomical education.

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Metoposaurids are a clade of large-bodied temnospondyls commonly found in non-marine Late Triassic deposits across northern Pangea. Three taxa are known from North America: Anaschisma browni, Apachesaurus gregorii, and “Metoposaurus” bakeri. While the osteology of most metoposaurids has been recently revised, that of a few taxa, including “Metoposaurus” bakeri remains poorly characterized. This taxon was formally described in 1931 as “Buettneria bakeri,” and its taxonomy has remained in flux ever since then. “Metoposaurus” bakeri is the earliest appearing metoposaurid in North America (Carnian of Texas), and Metoposaurus has frequently been utilized as an index taxon of the Otischalkian estimated holochron (‘land vertebrate faunachron’) and for biostratigraphic correlations with other geographic regions. The taxonomy of this species is therefore relevant for both taxonomic experts and biostratigraphers. Here we redescribe all material from the type locality of “M.” bakeri, the Elkins Place bone bed, and perform a phylogenetic analysis using a revised matrix assembled from several previous studies. Anatomical comparisons and phylogenetic analyses do not support placement in either Metoposaurus, a taxon otherwise only found in Europe, or Anaschisma, the only other large-bodied taxon from North America. Therefore, we erect a new genus, Buettnererpeton gen. nov., to accommodate this species. Metoposaurus is consequently absent from North America, and this genus cannot be used in global biostratigraphy. Phylogenetic analyses provide evidence that the phylogeny of the Metoposauridae remains extremely labile, with drastic differences in topological resolution and structure being linked to just a handful of characters and scores. Metoposaurids’ morphological conservatism and the increased recognition of intraspecific variation thus continue to be major confounds to elucidating the evolutionary history of this clade.