Boii

Boii is an extinct genus of microsaur within the family Tuditanidae. It was found in Carboniferous coal from mines near the community of Kounov in the Czech Republic. The only remains of the genus consist of a crushed skull, shoulder girdle bones, and scales, which were similar to microsaurian elements originally referred to Asaphestera. Boii can be characterized by its heavily sculptured skull, thin ventral plate of the clavicles, and a larger number of fangs on the roof of the mouth. For many years the type and only known species, Boii crassidens, was considered to be a species of Sparodus, until 1966 when Robert Carroll assigned it to its own genus. History The specimen now designated as Boii crassidens was first described by Antonin Frič, one of the most notable paleontologists in the late 19th century region of Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic). Frič made many contributions to knowledge of Carboniferous tetrapods during his lifetime, including a particular article published in "Sitzungsberichte der königlichen Böhmischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften in Prague", the most notable bohemian scientific journal of its day. The article, which was published in 1876 within volume 1875 of the journal, was a list of Carboniferous animals he and his associates recently discovered at gaskohle (bituminous coal) mines near the localities of Nýřany and Kounová. His list included short preliminary descriptions for many new genera and species of tetrapods, including Microbrachis, Branchiosaurus, Hyloplesion (at that time called Stelliosaurus), and Sparodus. Most of the "Saurier" (reptiles, amphibians, or other tetrapods) he discussed in the article hailed from the Nýřany mines, with only two diagnostic examples found within the Kounová mines. One of these was a supposed amphibian he designated as "Labyrinthodon" shwarzenbergii, which is now known to not be an amphibian at all, but rather an early synapsid named Macromerion. The other specimen, which is now known as Boii crassidens, he named Batrachocephalus crassidens. This specimen consisted of a crushed skull, preserved on a slab and counterslab of coal. Jaw bones, scales, and shoulder girdle elements were preserved on the slabs as well. It is currently held at the National Museum in Prague, with the designation ČGH 83. This article was only a preliminary review of the creatures Frič and his associates discovered.