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Riojasuchus Skull
''Riojasuchus'' is an extinct genus of Late Triassic ( Norian) quadrupedal archosaur. ''Riojasuchus'' is a member of Ornithosuchidae, a family of facultatively bipedal carnivores that were geographically widespread during the Late Triassic. Two other genera, ''Ornithosuchus'' and ''Venaticosuchus'', are currently known. The holotype specimen is PVL 3827. It was found in the Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina. Discovery and naming The holotype specimen is PVL 3827, consisting of a mostly complete crania and a partial postcrania. A majority of the postcranial material was preserved. The skeleton was found with others in the upper section of the Los Colorados Formation. Other than the holotype, it is known from three skeletons. Description The skull of the type specimen is long, and has a large, curved snout and short mandibles. Distinguishing characteristics Many characteristics were identified by Bonaparte in 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riojasaurus
''Riojasaurus'' (meaning "Rioja lizard") was a herbivorous sauropodomorph dinosaur named after La Rioja Province in Argentina where it was found in the Los Colorados Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin by José Bonaparte. It lived during the Late Triassic (Norian stage) and grew to about long."Riojasaurus." In: Dodson, Peter & Britt, Brooks & Carpenter, Kenneth & Forster, Catherine A. & Gillette, David D. & Norell, Mark A. & Olshevsky, George & Parrish, J. Michael & Weishampel, David B. ''The Age of Dinosaurs''. Publications International, LTD. p. 41. . ''Riojasaurus'' is the only known riojasaurid to live in South America. Description ''Riojasaurus'' had a heavy body, bulky legs, and a long neck and tail. Its leg bones were dense and massive for an early sauropodomorph. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated its length at and its weight at . By contrast, its vertebrae were lightened by hollow cavities, and unlike most early sauropodomorphs, ''Riojasaurus'' had fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riojasuchus Skull
''Riojasuchus'' is an extinct genus of Late Triassic ( Norian) quadrupedal archosaur. ''Riojasuchus'' is a member of Ornithosuchidae, a family of facultatively bipedal carnivores that were geographically widespread during the Late Triassic. Two other genera, ''Ornithosuchus'' and ''Venaticosuchus'', are currently known. The holotype specimen is PVL 3827. It was found in the Los Colorados Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina. Discovery and naming The holotype specimen is PVL 3827, consisting of a mostly complete crania and a partial postcrania. A majority of the postcranial material was preserved. The skeleton was found with others in the upper section of the Los Colorados Formation. Other than the holotype, it is known from three skeletons. Description The skull of the type specimen is long, and has a large, curved snout and short mandibles. Distinguishing characteristics Many characteristics were identified by Bonaparte in 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasuchus
''Parasuchus'' is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic (late Carnian to early Norian stage) of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India. At its most restricted definition, ''Parasuchus'' contains a single species, ''Parasuchus hislopi''. ''Parasuchus hislopi'' is one of several species belonging to a basal grade of phytosaurs, typified by the genus '' Paleorhinus''. Historically, ''Paleorhinus'' has been known from better-described fossils, and many species have been lumped into that genus. ''Parasuchus hislopi'', despite being described earlier than ''Paleorhinus'', was considered an undiagnostic chimera until new neotype fossils were described in the late 1970s. ''Parasuchus hislopi'' and the two unambiguously valid species of ''Paleorhinus'' (''P. bransoni'' and ''P. angustifrons'') are all closely related; some authors have historically described them all under the species ''Paleorhinus'', while others place the two ''Paleorhinus'' species into ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytosauria
Phytosaurs (Φυτόσαυροι in greek) are an extinct group of large, mostly semiaquatic Late Triassic archosauriform reptiles. Phytosaurs belong to the order Phytosauria. Phytosauria and Phytosauridae are often considered to be equivalent groupings containing the same species, but some studies have identified non-phytosaurid phytosaurians. Phytosaurs were long-snouted and heavily armoured, bearing a remarkable resemblance to modern crocodilians in size, appearance, and lifestyle, as an example of convergence or parallel evolution. The name "phytosaur" means "plant reptile", as the first fossils of phytosaurs were mistakenly thought to belong to plant eaters. The name is misleading because the sharp teeth in phytosaur jaws clearly show that they were predators. For many years, phytosaurs were considered to be the most basal group of Pseudosuchia (crocodile-line archosaurs), meaning that they were thought to be more closely related to the crocodilians than to birds (the othe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euparkeria
''Euparkeria'' (; meaning "Parker's good animal", named in honor of W.K. Parker) is an extinct genus of archosauriform from the Middle Triassic of South Africa. It was a small reptile that lived between 245-230 million years ago, and was close to the ancestry of Archosauria, the group that includes dinosaurs, pterosaurs, birds and crocodilians. ''Euparkeria'' had hind limbs that were slightly longer than its forelimbs, which has been taken as evidence that it may have been able to rear up on its hind legs as a facultative biped. Although ''Euparkeria'' is close to the ancestry of fully bipedal archosaurs such as early dinosaurs, it probably developed bipedalism independently. ''Euparkeria'' was not as well adapted to bipedal locomotion as dinosaurs and its normal movement was probably more analogous to a crocodilian high walk. Palaeobiology Locomotion The hind limbs of ''Euparkeria'' are somewhat longer than its forelimbs, which has led many researchers to conclude that it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chanaresuchus
''Chanaresuchus'' is an extinct genus of proterochampsian archosauriform. It was of modest size for a proterochampsian, being on average just over a meter in length. Fossils are known from the Middle and Late Triassic of La Rioja Province, Argentina and Rio Grande do Sul (geoparque Paleorrota), Brazil. The type species and only currently known species is ''Chanaresuchus bonapartei'' was named from the Ladinian-age Chañares Formation in 1971. A second species ''C. ischigualastensis'' named in 2012 from the late Carnian-age Ischigualasto Formation, was briefly assigned to ''Chanaresuchus'' before being moved to its own genus '' Pseudochampsa'' in 2014. ''C. bonapartei'' has recently been found in the Carnian Santa Maria Formation in Brazil. ''Chanaresuchus'' appears to be one of the most common archosauriforms from the Chanares Formation due to the abundance of specimens referred to the genus. Much of the material has been found by the La Plata-Harvard expedition of 1964-65. ''Cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropidosuchus
''Tropidosuchus'' is an extinct genus of carnivorous archosauriforms from the Middle Triassic period (Anisian to Ladinian stage). It is a proterochampsid which lived in what is now Argentina. It is known from the holotype PVL 4601, which consists of partial skeleton. It was found in the Chañares Formation and its type locality is the Chañares River. It was first named by A. B. Arcucci in 1990 and the type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ... is ''Tropidosuchus romeri''. References Proterochampsians Ladinian genera Middle Triassic reptiles of South America Triassic Argentina Fossils of Argentina Chañares Formation Fossil taxa described in 1990 Prehistoric reptile genera {{triassic-reptile-stub ... [...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] |
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] |
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] |
