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Pleurosauridae
Pleurosauridae is an extinct family of sphenodontian reptiles, known from the Jurassic of Europe. Members of the family had long-snake like bodies with reduced limbs that were adapted for aquatic life in marine environments. It contains two genera, ''Palaeopleurosaurus,'' which is known from the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) Posidonia Shale of Germany, as well as ''Pleurosaurus'' from the Late Jurassic of Germany and France. ''Paleopleurosaurus'' is more primitive than the later ''Pleurosaurus'', with a skull similar to those of other sphenodontians, while that of ''Pleurosaurus'' is highly modified relative to other sphendontians. They likely swam via anguilliform locomotion.Dupret, V. (2004). The pleurosaurs: anatomy and phylogeny. ''Revue de Paléobiologie'', 9: 61-8/ref> ''Vadasaurus'' and ''Derasmosaurus ''Derasmosaurus'' is an extinct species of rhynchocephalian known from the Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy. It was originally considered to be a specimen of ''Lacerta brev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vadasaurus
''Vadasaurus'' is an extinct genus of rhynchocephalian closely related to the aquatic pleurosaurids. Although this genus was not as specialized as the eel-like pleurosaurs for aquatic life, various skeletal features support the idea that it had a semiaquatic lifestyle. The type species, ''Vadasaurus herzogi'', was described and named in 2017. It was discovered in the Solnhofen Limestone in Germany, which is dated to the Late Jurassic. The generic name "''Vadasaurus"'' is derived from "''vadare''", which is Latin for "to go" or "to walk forth", and "''saurus''", which means "lizard" (although rhynchocephalians are not lizards). "''Vadare"'' is the root of the English word "wade", which is the reason it was chosen for this genus, in reference to its perceived semiaquatic habits. The specific name, "''herzogi''", refers to Werner Herzog, a Bavarian filmmaker. Description The holotype of ''Vadasaurus herzogi'' is AMNH FARB 32768, a well-preserved but slightly flattened skeleton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palaeopleurosaurus
''Palaeopleurosaurus'' is an extinct genus of diapsid reptiles belonging to the group Sphenodontia.Dupret, V. (2004). The pleurosaurs: anatomy and phylogeny. ''Revue de Paléobiologie'', 9: 61-8/ref> ''Palaeopleurosaurus'' fossils were discovered in Germany (Holzmaden and Kerkhofen) from the Lower Toarcian (Early Jurassic), Posidonia Shale, dated to about 182-180 million years ago.R. L. Carroll, R. L. (1985). ''A pleurosaur from the Lower Jurassic and the taxonomic position of the Sphenodontida''. Palaeontographica Abteilung A, 1985. Volume 189. Pages 1-28. The holotype come from the Middle Section, just under the Seagrasschiefer section (=Bifrons subzone) on both localities, probably linked with the coeval measured sea regression. Initially, ''Paleopleurosaurus'' was described to represent an intermediate morphology between Late Triassic-Lower Jurassic terrestrial sphenodontia and the late Jurassic fully aquatic ''Pleurosaurus''. The study of a new specimen provided additional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Derasmosaurus
''Derasmosaurus'' is an extinct species of rhynchocephalia Rhynchocephalia (; ) is an order of lizard-like reptiles that includes only one living species, the tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') of New Zealand. Despite its current lack of diversity, during the Mesozoic rhynchocephalians were a diverse g ...n known from the Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy. It was originally considered to be a specimen of ''Lacerta brevicauda'' by Costa in 1866, it was later considered a specimen of the lizard '' Chometokadmon fitzingeri'' by D'Erasmo in 1915. It was described as a distinct rhynchocephalian genus in 1988. It is distinct from other indeterminate rhychocephalians found in the Plattenkalk. It is considered to be aquatically adapted, and possibly a member of the Pleurosauridae. References {{Taxonbar, from1=Q3705792, from2=Q21368352 Cretaceous lepidosaurs Early Cretaceous reptiles of Europe Prehistoric reptile genera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurassic Lepidosaurs
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified. The start of the Jurassic was marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, associated with the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. The beginning of the Toarcian Stage started around 183 million years ago and is marked by an extinction event associated with widespread oceanic anoxia, ocean acidification, and elevated temperatures likely caused by the eruption of the Karoo-Ferrar large igneous provinces. The end of the Jurassic, however, has no clear boundary with the Cretaceous and is the only boundary between geological periods to remain formally undefined. By the beginning of the Jurassic, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pleurosaurus
''Pleurosaurus'' (meaning "side lizard") is an extinct genus of diapsid reptiles belonging to the group Sphenodontia, extinct relatives of the modern tuatara. ''Pleurosaurus'' fossils were discovered in the Solnhofen Limestone of Bavaria, Germany and Canjuers, France. It contains two species, ''P. goldfussi'' and ''P. ginsburgi''.Dupret, V. (2004). The pleurosaurs: anatomy and phylogeny. ''Revue de Paléobiologie'', 9: 61-8/ref> ''Pleurosaurus'' is one of the few known aquatic animal, aquatic sphenodontians. Its body was approximately long, and elongated for hydrodynamic streamlining, with comparatively short limbs and a powerful tail. The body was heavily modified from those of other rhynchocephalians, including an elongated triangular skull. It swam via the use of poorly efficient axial undulatory anguilliform locomotion (the movement of the body side to side) in shallow marine environments, and was probably piscivorous. It had only small limbs, which probably did ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic, Mesozoic Era and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified. The start of the Jurassic was marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, associated with the eruption of the Central Atlantic magmatic province, Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. The beginning of the Toarcian Stage started around 183 million years ago and is marked by an extinction event associated with widespread Anoxic event, oceanic anoxia, ocean acidification, and elevated temperatures likely caused by the eruption of the Karoo-Ferrar, Karoo-Ferrar large igneous provinces. The end of the Jurassic, however, has no clear boundary with the Cretaceous and i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genus (biology)
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. ''Panthera leo'' (lion) and ''Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus '' Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should clearly demons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Lydekker
Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker, a barrister-at-law with Dutch ancestry. The family moved to Harpenden Lodge soon after Richard's birth. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a first-class in the Natural Science tripos (1872). In 1874 he joined the Geological Survey of India and made studies of the vertebrate palaeontology of northern India (especially Kashmir). He remained in this post until the death of his father in 1881. His main work in India was on the Siwalik palaeofauna; it was published in ''Palaeontologia Indica''. He was responsible for the cataloguing of the fossil mammals, reptiles, and birds in the Natural History Museum (10 vols., 1891). He named a variety of taxa including the golden-bellied mangabey; as a taxon authority he is nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987. In European lithostratigraphy, the name "Malm" indicates rocks of Late Jurassic age. In the past, ''Malm'' was also used to indicate the unit of geological time, but this usage is now discouraged to make a clear distinction between lithostratigraphic and geochronologic/chronostratigraphic units. Subdivisions The Late Jurassic is divided into three ages, which correspond with the three (faunal) stages of Upper Jurassic rock: Paleogeography During the Late Jurassic Epoch, Pangaea broke up into two supercontinents, Laurasia to the north, and Gondwana to the south. The result of this break-up was the spawning of the Atlantic Ocean. However, at this time, the Atlantic Ocean was relatively narrow. Life forms of the epoch This epoch is well known for many famous types of dinosau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toarcian
The Toarcian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, an age and stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic. It spans the time between 182.7 Ma (million years ago) and 174.1 Ma. It follows the Pliensbachian and is followed by the Aalenian. The Toarcian Age began with the Toarcian turnover, the extinction event that sets its fossil faunas apart from the previous Pliensbachian age. It is believed to have ended with a global cooling event known as the Comptum Cooling Event, although whether it represented a worldwide event is controversial. Stratigraphic definitions The Toarcian takes its name from the city of Thouars, just south of Saumur in the Loire Valley of France. The stage was introduced by French palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny in 1842, after examining rock strata of this age in a quarry near Thouars. In Europe this period is represented by the upper part of the Lias. The base of the Toarcian is defined as the place in the stratigraphic record where the ammonite genus '' Eoda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Posidonia Shale
The Posidonia Shale (german: Posidonienschiefer, also called Schistes Bitumineux in Luxembourg) geologically known as the Sachrang Formation, is an Early Jurassic (Toarcian) geological formation of southwestern and northeast Germany, northern Switzerland, northwestern Austria, southern Luxembourg and the Netherlands, including exceptionally well-preserved complete skeletons of fossil marine fish and reptiles.W. Etter and O. Kuhn. 2000. An articulated dragonfly (Insecta, Odonata) from the Upper Liassic Posidonia Shale of Northern Switzerland. Palaeontology 43:967-977Henrotay, M., Marques, D., Paicheler, J. C., Gall, J. C., & Nel, A. (1998). Le Toarcien inférieur des régions de Bascharage et de Bettembourg (Grand-Duché du Luxembourg): évidences paléontologiques et sédimentologiques d'environnements restreints proches de l'émersion. Geodiversitas, 20(2), 263-284. The ''Posidonienschiefer'', as German paleontologists call it, takes its name from the ubiquitous fossils of the oyst ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
