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Litorosuchus
''Litorosuchus'' is a genus of armored, semiaquatic archosauriform reptile from the Middle Triassic of China, closely related to the morphologically similar '' Vancleavea''. It contains one species, ''L. somnii''. Description For an archosauriform, ''Litorosuchus'' was medium-sized at some in length. It shows clear adaptations to a semiaquatic lifestyle: the nasal opening is retracted and angled upwards, the tail is tall and long (about 60% of the animal's entire length), the scapula is short and broad, the feet are webbed (as shown by fossilized skin impressions), the neck is long and slender, and the snout is long, with many of the teeth being conical. In many of these ways, ''Litorosuchus'' resembles the similarly semiaquatic '' Vancleavea'' from North America. Like ''Vancleavea'', the body of ''Litorosuchus'' was covered in bony plates known as osteoderms, of which eight distinct types can be observed: two rows of rectangular-to-roundish semi-concave osteoderms with cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vancleavea
''Vancleavea'' is a genus of extinct, armoured, non- archosaurian archosauriforms from the Late Triassic of western North America. The type and only known species is ''V. campi'', named by Robert Long & Phillip A Murry in 1995. At that time, the genus was only known from fragmentary bones including osteoderms and vertebrae. However, since then many more fossils have been found, including a pair of nearly complete skeletons discovered in 2002. These finds have shown that members of the genus were bizarre semiaquatic reptiles. ''Vancleavea'' individuals had short snouts with large, fang-like teeth, and long bodies with small limbs. They were completely covered with bony plates known as osteoderms, which came in several different varieties distributed around the body. Phylogenetic analyses by professional paleontologists have shown that ''Vancleavea'' was an archosauriform, part of the lineage of reptiles that would lead to archosaurs such as dinosaurs and crocodilians. ''Vancleav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ladinian
The Ladinian is a stage and age in the Middle Triassic series or epoch. It spans the time between Ma and ~237 Ma (million years ago). The Ladinian was preceded by the Anisian and succeeded by the Carnian (part of the Upper or Late Triassic). The Ladinian is coeval with the Falangian regional stage used in China. Stratigraphic definitions The Ladinian was established by Austrian geologist Alexander Bittner in 1892. Its name comes from the Ladin people that live in the Italian Alps (in the Dolomites, then part of Austria-Hungary). The base of the Ladinian Stage is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where the ammonite species '' Eoprotrachyceras curionii'' first appears or the first appearance of the conodont ''Budurovignathus praehungaricus''. The global reference profile for the base (the GSSP) is at an outcrop in the river bed of the Caffaro river at Bagolino, in the province of Brescia, northern Italy.The GSSP was established by Brack ''et al.'' (2005) The t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calcaneus
In humans and many other primates, the calcaneus (; from the Latin ''calcaneus'' or ''calcaneum'', meaning heel) or heel bone is a bone of the tarsus of the foot which constitutes the heel. In some other animals, it is the point of the hock. Structure In humans, the calcaneus is the largest of the tarsal bones and the largest bone of the foot. Its long axis is pointed forwards and laterally. The talus bone, calcaneus, and navicular bone are considered the proximal row of tarsal bones. In the calcaneus, several important structures can be distinguished:Platzer (2004), p 216 There is a large calcaneal tuberosity located posteriorly on plantar surface with medial and lateral tubercles on its surface. Besides, there is another peroneal tubecle on its lateral surface. On its lower edge on either side are its lateral and medial processes (serving as the origins of the abductor hallucis and abductor digiti minimi). The Achilles tendon is inserted into a roughened area on its superio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proterochampsia
Proterochampsia is a clade of early archosauriform reptiles from the Triassic period. It includes the Proterochampsidae (e.g. '' Proterochampsa'', '' Chanaresuchus'' and '' Tropidosuchus'') and probably also the Doswelliidae. Nesbitt (2011) defines Proterochampsia as a stem-based taxon that includes '' Proterochampsa'' and all forms more closely related to it than ''Euparkeria'', ''Erythrosuchus'', ''Passer domesticus'' (the House Sparrow), or ''Crocodylus niloticus'' (the Nile crocodile). Therefore, the inclusion of Doswelliidae in it is dependent upon whether ''Doswellia'' and '' Proterochampsa'' form a monophyletic group to the exclusion of Archosauria and other related groups. Description Nesbitt (2011) found that Proterochampsians share several distinguishing characteristics, or synapomorphies. A prominent ridge runs along the length of the jugal, a bone below the eye. Another ridge is present on the quadratojugal, a bone positioned toward the back of the skull behind the j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doswellia
''Doswellia'' is an extinct genus of archosauriform from the Late Triassic of North America. It is the most notable member of the family Doswelliidae, related to the proterochampsids. ''Doswellia'' was a low and heavily built carnivore which lived during the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic. It possesses many unusual features including a wide, flattened head with narrow jaws and a box-like rib cage surrounded by many rows of bony plates. The type species ''Doswellia kaltenbachi'' was named in 1980 from fossils found within the Vinita member of the Doswell Formation (formerly known as the Falling Creek Formation) in Virginia. The formation, which is found in the Taylorsville Basin, is part of the larger Newark Supergroup. ''Doswellia'' is named after Doswell, the town from which much of the taxon's remains have been found. A second species, ''D. sixmilensis,'' was described in 2012 from the Bluewater Creek Formation of the Chinle Group in New Mexico; however, this species was sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erythrosuchus
''Erythrosuchus'' (from el, ἐρυθρός , 'red' and el, σοῦχος , 'crocodile') is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile from the Triassic of South Africa. Remains have been found from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo of South Africa. In the Late Triassic, the ecological niche left by ''Erythrosuchus'' was filled by archosaurs like ''Saurosuchus'' and ''Postosuchus''. Description ''Erythrosuchus'' was the largest predator of its time, and was around long. It walked on all fours and had limbs which were positioned semi-vertically under its body, unlike the more sprawling gait of most earlier reptiles. Its head was large and theropod-like, reaching a length of , and had sharp, conical teeth. ''Erythrosuchus'' was the largest erythrosuchid, but apart from its size, was largely similar in appearance to other related genera. It had a large head and comparatively short neck. One of the few distinguishing features of ''Erythrosuchus' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proterosuchus
''Proterosuchus'' is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptiles that lived during the Early Triassic. It contains three valid species: the type species ''P. fergusi'' and the referred species ''P. alexanderi'' and ''P. goweri''. All three species lived in what is now South Africa. The genus was named in 1903 by the South African paleontologist Robert Broom. The well-known genus ''Chasmatosaurus'' is a junior synonym of ''Proterosuchus''. ''Proterosuchus'' was a mid-sized quadrupedal reptile with a sprawling stance that could reach a length of up to . It had a large head and distinctively hooked snout. It was a predator, which may have hunted prey such as ''Lystrosaurus''. The lifestyle of ''Proterosuchus'' remains debated; it may have been terrestrial or it may have been a semiaquatic ambush predator similar to modern crocodiles. ''Proterosuchus'' is one of the earliest members of the clade Archosauriformes, which also includes crocodilians, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs, includin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prolacerta
''Prolacerta'' is a genus of archosauromorph from the lower Triassic of South Africa and Antarctica. The only known species is ''Prolacerta broomi''. The generic name ''Prolacerta'' is derived from Latin meaning “before lizard” and its species name ''broomi'' is in commemoration of the famous paleontologist Robert Broom, who discovered and studied many of the fossils found in rocks of the Karoo Supergroup. When first discovered, ''Prolacerta'' was considered to be ancestral to modern lizards, scientifically known as lacertilians. However, a study by Gow (1975) instead found that it shared more similarities with the lineage that would lead to archosaurs such as crocodilians and dinosaurs (including birds). ''Prolacerta'' is considered by modern paleontologists to be among the closest relatives of the Archosauriformes. History of discovery ''Prolacerta'' was first described by Francis Rex Parrington in 1935 from a single skull recovered near the small town, Middelburg, in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesosuchus
''Mesosuchus'' ("middle crocodile") is an extinct genus of basal Rhynchosaur from early Middle Triassic (early Anisian stage) deposits of Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is known from the holotype SAM 5882, a partial skeleton, and from the paratypes SAM 6046, SAM 6536, SAM 7416 and SAM 7701 from the ''Aliwal North Euparkeria site''. ''Mesosuchus'' is quite small, spanning around 30 cm in length. ''Mesosuchus'' was discovered and named by David Meredith Seares Watson in 1912. Fossil discovery SAM 5882, the holotype for ''Mesosuchus'', consists of a partial rostrum, palate, braincase, lower jaws, sections of articulated presacral vertebral column, nine articulated caudal vertebrae, portions of scapula and pelvic girdle, and partial forelimb and hindlimbs. SAM 6046, one of the paratypes of ''Mesosuchus'', consists of an incomplete right maxilla, an articulated series of the last ten presacrals, both sacrals, and first six caudals, partial forelimbs, left and right pelvic g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archosauriformes
Archosauriformes (Greek for 'ruling lizards', and Latin for 'form') is a clade of diapsid reptiles that developed from archosauromorph ancestors some time in the Latest Permian (roughly 252 million years ago). It was defined by Jacques Gauthier (1994) as the clade stemming from the last common ancestor of Proterosuchidae and Archosauria (the group that contains crocodiles, pterosaurs and dinosaurs bird.html"_;"title="ncluding_bird">ncluding_birds;_Phil_Senter.html" ;"title="bird">ncluding_birds.html" ;"title="bird.html" ;"title="ncluding bird">ncluding birds">bird.html" ;"title="ncluding bird">ncluding birds; Phil Senter">bird">ncluding_birds.html" ;"title="bird.html" ;"title="ncluding bird">ncluding birds">bird.html" ;"title="ncluding bird">ncluding birds; Phil Senter (2005) defined it as the most exclusive clade containing ''Proterosuchus'' and Archosauria. These reptiles, which include members of the Family (biology), family Proterosuchidae and more advanced forms, were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archosaur
Archosauria () is a clade of diapsids, with birds and crocodilians as the only living representatives. Archosaurs are broadly classified as reptiles, in the cladistic sense of the term which includes birds. Extinct archosaurs include non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and extinct relatives of crocodilians. Modern paleontologists define Archosauria as a crown group that includes the most recent common ancestor of living birds and crocodilians, and all of its descendants. The base of Archosauria splits into two clades: Pseudosuchia, which includes crocodilians and their extinct relatives, and Avemetatarsalia, which includes birds and their extinct relatives (such as non-avian dinosaurs and pterosaurs). Older definitions of the group Archosauria rely on shared morphological characteristics, such as an antorbital fenestra in the skull, serrated teeth, and an upright stance. Some extinct reptiles, such as proterosuchids and euparkeriids, possessed these features yet originated pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Institute Of Vertebrate Paleontology And Paleoanthropology
The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP; ) of China is a research institution and collections repository for fossils, including many dinosaur and pterosaur specimens (many from the Yixian Formation). As its name suggests, research is focused on both paleontological topics and those relating to human prehistory. The institution, located in Beijing, grew out of the Cenozoic Research Laboratory in 1929 and is its own institution under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its staff have increasingly worked internationally, participating in the China-Canada Dinosaur Project from 1986 to 1991 and authoring or coauthoring forty-five ''Nature'' and ''Science'' articles from 1999 to 2005. Notable paleontologists who have been affiliated with the IVPP include Yang Zhongjian (also known as C. C. Young), Dong Zhiming, Meemann Chang and Zhao Xijin Zhao Xijin (赵喜进; born c. 1935 died July 21, 2012) was a Chinese paleontologist notable for having named numerous di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
