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Galesaurus
''Galesaurus'' (from the Greek roots for 'weasel' and 'lizard') is an extinct genus of carnivorous cynodont therapsid that lived between the Induan and the Olenekian stages of the Early Triassic in what is now South Africa. It was incorrectly classified as a dinosaur by Sir Richard Owen in 1859. Notably, ''Galesaurus'' was mentioned in the first issue of Nature in 1869, where T. H. Huxley erroneously expressed confidence that it would eventually be shown to be a dinosaur. Description The largest ''Galesaurus'' skull discovered is roughly long. Larger remains indicate that an adult ''Galesaurus'' is roughly long. Cynodonts, including ''Galesaurus,'' are believed to have had sprawling postures. Examination of ''Galesaurus'' reveals two distinct morphs, a gracile and a robust morph. The main differences between the two morphs lie in the pectoral and pelvic girdles, as well as subtle differences in the fore and hind limbs. The morphological differences may be due to sexual dimo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galesaurus Planiceps Life Restoration
''Galesaurus'' (from the Greek roots for 'weasel' and 'lizard') is an extinct genus of carnivorous cynodont therapsid that lived between the Induan and the Olenekian stages of the Early Triassic in what is now South Africa. It was incorrectly classified as a dinosaur by Sir Richard Owen in 1859. Notably, ''Galesaurus'' was mentioned in the first issue of Nature in 1869, where T. H. Huxley erroneously expressed confidence that it would eventually be shown to be a dinosaur. Description The largest ''Galesaurus'' skull discovered is roughly long. Larger remains indicate that an adult ''Galesaurus'' is roughly long. Cynodonts, including ''Galesaurus,'' are believed to have had sprawling postures. Examination of ''Galesaurus'' reveals two distinct morphs, a gracile and a robust morph. The main differences between the two morphs lie in the pectoral and pelvic girdles, as well as subtle differences in the fore and hind limbs. The morphological differences may be due to sexual dimo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galesaurus Block
''Galesaurus'' (from the Greek roots for 'weasel' and 'lizard') is an extinct genus of carnivorous cynodont therapsid that lived between the Induan and the Olenekian stages of the Early Triassic in what is now South Africa. It was incorrectly classified as a dinosaur by Sir Richard Owen in 1859. Notably, ''Galesaurus'' was mentioned in the first issue of Nature in 1869, where T. H. Huxley erroneously expressed confidence that it would eventually be shown to be a dinosaur. Description The largest ''Galesaurus'' skull discovered is roughly long. Larger remains indicate that an adult ''Galesaurus'' is roughly long. Cynodonts, including ''Galesaurus,'' are believed to have had sprawling postures. Examination of ''Galesaurus'' reveals two distinct morphs, a gracile and a robust morph. The main differences between the two morphs lie in the pectoral and pelvic girdles, as well as subtle differences in the fore and hind limbs. The morphological differences may be due to sexual dimo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Progalesaurus
''Progalesaurus'' is an extinct genus of galesaurid cynodont from the early Triassic. ''Progalesaurus'' is known from a single fossil of the species ''Progalesaurus lootsbergensis'', found in the ''Lystrosaurus'' Assemblage Zone of the Balfour Formation. Close relatives of ''Progalesaurus,'' other galesaurids, include ''Galesaurus'' and '' Cynosaurus''. Galesaurids appeared just before the Permian-Triassic extinction event, and disappeared from the fossil record in the Middle-Triassic. The name “Progalesaurus” is derived from Greek, “pro” meaning before, “gale” meaning weasel or cat, and “saurus” meaning lizard or reptile (Sidor and Smith). The name refers to the relationship ''Progalesaurus'' has to the more derived ''Galesaurus.'' Discovery and history ''Progalesaurus'' was originally discovered by Roger M. H. Smith in 1998. The specimen was found in the Sneeuberg mountains near New Lootsberg Pass in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. ''Progalesaurus'' was fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Galesauridae
Galesauridae is an extinct family of cynodonts. Along with the family Thrinaxodontidae and the extensive clade Eucynodontia (which includes mammals), it makes up the unranked taxon called Epicynodontia. Galesaurids first appeared in the very latest Permian period, just a million years (or perhaps only a thousand years) before the greatest extinction of all time, the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Galesaurids are some of the most primitive of the Epicynodontia. They may have resembled basal cynodonts such as the Procynosuchidae, and they may have descended from a Procynosuchid-like ancestor, but the Galesaurids were more advanced than the basal Cynodontia. It is clear that, like many other Epicynodontians, many Galesaurids had a complete secondary palate, which allowed them to swallow food while breathing, and the dentary bone was enlarged relative to those of their ancestors. Their temporal fenestrae are much larger than those of the Procynosuchids, but not as large as in m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Therapsid
Therapsida is a major group of eupelycosaurian synapsids that includes mammals, their ancestors and relatives. Many of the traits today seen as unique to mammals had their origin within early therapsids, including limbs that were oriented more underneath the body, as opposed to the sprawling posture of many reptiles and salamanders. Therapsids evolved from "pelycosaurs", specifically within the Sphenacodontia, more than 279.5 million years ago. They replaced the "pelycosaurs" as the dominant large land animals in the Middle Permian through to the Early Triassic. In the aftermath of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, therapsids declined in relative importance to the rapidly diversifying reptiles during the Middle Triassic. The therapsids include the cynodonts, the group that gave rise to mammals ( Mammaliaformes) in the Late Triassic, around 225 million years ago. Of the non-mammalian therapsids, only cynodonts survived beyond the end of the Triassic, with the only other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Triassic
The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which is a unit in chronostratigraphy. The Early Triassic is the oldest epoch of the Mesozoic Era. It is preceded by the Lopingian Epoch (late Permian, Paleozoic Era) and followed by the Middle Triassic Epoch. The Early Triassic is divided into the Induan and Olenekian ages. The Induan is subdivided into the Griesbachian and Dienerian subages and the Olenekian is subdivided into the Smithian and Spathian subages. The Lower Triassic series is coeval with the Scythian Stage, which is today not included in the official timescales but can be found in older literature. In Europe, most of the Lower Triassic is composed of Buntsandstein, a lithostratigraphic unit of continental red beds. The Early Triassic and partly also the Middle Triassic span the in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynosaurus
''Cynosaurus'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts. Remains have been found from the ''Dicynodon'' Assemblage Zone in South Africa.T. S. Kemp: ''The Origin and Evolution of Mammals'' Oxford University Press, 2005. ''Cynosaurus'' was first described by Richard Owen in 1876 as ''Cynosuchus suppostus''. ''Cynosaurus'' has been found in the late Permian period. Cyno- is derived from the Greek word kyon for dog and –sauros in Greek meaning lizard. Paleoenvironment Fossils of ''Cynosaurus'' have been found in the ''Cistecephalus'' and ''Daptocephalus'' Assemblage Zones, in the Balfour Formation of the Beaufort Group, pertaining to the Karoo Supergroup of South Africa. In the Karoo Basin of South Africa riverbanks would be over flooded creating floodplains that could hold all that water to start soil accumulation.Viglietti et al, 2018 In the lower Balfour Formation, the soil deposits suggest a lacustrine environment with abundant leaf impressions (Viglietti et al., 2018). This sugg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynodont
The cynodonts () (clade Cynodontia) are a clade of eutheriodont therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian (approximately 260 mya), and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Cynodonts had a wide variety of lifestyles, including carnivory and herbivory. Mammals are cynodonts, as are their extinct ancestors and close relatives, having evolved from advanced probainognathian cynodonts during the Late Triassic. All other cynodont lines went extinct, with the last known non-mammalian cynodont group, the Tritylodontidae, having its youngest records in the Early Cretaceous. Description Early cynodonts have many of the skeletal characteristics of mammals. The teeth were fully differentiated and the braincase bulged at the back of the head. Outside of some crown-group mammals (notably the therians), all cynodonts probably laid eggs. The temporal fenestrae were much larger than those of their ancestors, and the widening of the zygomatic arch in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynodont
The cynodonts () (clade Cynodontia) are a clade of eutheriodont therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian (approximately 260 mya), and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Cynodonts had a wide variety of lifestyles, including carnivory and herbivory. Mammals are cynodonts, as are their extinct ancestors and close relatives, having evolved from advanced probainognathian cynodonts during the Late Triassic. All other cynodont lines went extinct, with the last known non-mammalian cynodont group, the Tritylodontidae, having its youngest records in the Early Cretaceous. Description Early cynodonts have many of the skeletal characteristics of mammals. The teeth were fully differentiated and the braincase bulged at the back of the head. Outside of some crown-group mammals (notably the therians), all cynodonts probably laid eggs. The temporal fenestrae were much larger than those of their ancestors, and the widening of the zygomatic arch in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epicynodontia
Epicynodontia is a clade of cynodont therapsids that includes most cynodonts, such as galesaurids, thrinaxodontids, and Eucynodontia (including mammals). It was erected as a stem-based taxon by Hopson and Kitching (2001) and defined as the most inclusive clade containing Mammalia and excluding ''Procynosuchus'', a Late Permian genus that is one of the most basal cynodonts. Below is a cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ... from Ruta, Botha-Brink, Mitchell and Benton (2013) showing one hypothesis of cynodont relationships: References Cynodonts Lopingian first appearances Extant Permian first appearances Tetrapod unranked clades Taxa named by James Hopson Taxa named by James Kitching {{Therapsid-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procynosuchus
''Procynosuchus'' (Greek: "Before dog crocodile") is an extinct genus of cynodonts from the Late Permian. It is considered to be one of the earliest and most basal cynodonts. It was 60 cm (2 ft) long. Remains of ''Procynosuchus'' have been found in Russia, Germany, Zambia and South Africa.T. S. Kemp: ''The Origin and Evolution of Mammals'' Oxford University Press, 2005. Paleobiology As one of the earliest cynodonts, ''Procynosuchus'' has many primitive features, but it also has features that distinguish it from all other early therapsids. Some of these features were interpreted by Kemp (1980) as adaptations for a semi-aquatic lifestyle. For example, the wide zygapophyses of the vertebrae allow for a high degree of lateral flexibility, and ''Procynosuchus'' may have used anguilliform locomotion, or eel-like undulation, to swim through the water. The tail of ''Procynosuchus'' is also unusually long for a cynodont. The long haemal arches would have given the tail a lar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dvinia
''Dvinia'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts found in the Salarevo Formation of Sokolki on the Northern Dvina River near Kotlas in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It is the only known member of the family Dviniidae. Its fossil remains date from the Late Permian and were found with ''Inostrancevia'', ''Scutosaurus'' and '' Vivaxosaurus''. ''Dvinia'' was a small omnivore possessing a large temporal opening typical of advanced therapsids, with a thin postorbital bar separating the eye from the muscle attachment. As a cynodont, it was closely related to mammals. The dentition consisted of a set of small incisors followed by 2 canines and 10-14 postcanines. See also * List of therapsids This list of therapsids is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the Therapsida excluding mammals and purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera tha ... References Further reading * Patricia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
