Sauroscaptor
''Sauroscaptor'' is a genus of cistecephalid dicynodont from the upper Permian of India, containing one species, ''S. tharavati''. It is remarkable for the extreme placement of its pineal foramen, which bulges out of the posterior margin of its skull. Etymology ''Sauroscaptor'' means "lizard mole" or "lizard digger", and is derived from the Greek word σαῦρος, meaning "lizard", and the Greek word σκάπτω, meaning "digger", which is used as a suffix in the Indian mole genera ''Euroscaptor'' and '' Parascaptor''. The type species, ''S. tharavati'', honors Tharavat S. Kutty, discoverer of the Kundaram Formation fauna that includes ''Sauroscaptor''. History The fossils of ''Sauroscaptor'' show various forms of compression, and were originally interpreted as pertaining to several different genera of dicynodont. However, the shared presence of several unique traits not affected by compression proved that the fossils all belonged to a single endemic species. Description ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cistecephalidae
Cistecephalidae is an extinct family (biology), family of dicynodont therapsids from the Late Permian of South Africa, India and Zambia. It includes the genera ''Cistecephalus'', ''Cistecephaloides'', and ''Kawingasaurus''. Cistecephalids are thought to have had a fossorial or burrowing lifestyle, with adaptations such as broad skulls, strong forelimbs, and squat bodies. A similar group of dicynodonts called the pylaecephalids were also fossorial, although to a lesser extent than cistecephalids. Cistecephalids showed a high level of endemism, with each of the five known species unique to a single region. Description Cistecephalids were small dicynodonts. Most species, with the exception of ''Kembawacela'', lacked tusks, but sexually dimorphic supraorbital ridges were present. Cistecephalids had boxy, broad skulls with relatively laterally directed temporal openings, a result of a considerably broadened intertemporal region. ''Sauroscaptor'', the most basal genus of the family, h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cistecephalus
''Cistecephalus'' is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian of southern Africa (South Africa and Zambia). It was a small, specialised, burrowing dicynodont, possibly with habits similar to a modern mole. The head was flattened and wedge-shaped, the body long, and the forelimbs very strong, with similarities in structure to the forelimb of modern burrowing mammals. It was one of the first genera of dicynodonts to be described, by Richard Owen, in 1876. ''Cistecephalus'' could reach up to in length. Description ''Cistecephalus'' was one of the most atypical dicynodont genera. However, it was broadly similar in anatomy to other cistecephalids, all of which share similar adaptations to digging. Its skull was broad, with laterally-directed temporal openings and a sharply tapering snout, similar to extant fossorial animals. However, it has relatively large, anteriorly-directed orbits, suggesting binocular vision. It had a short neck and laterally-directed sh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kundaram Formation
The Kundaram Formation is a geological formation in India, located within the Pranhita–Godavari Basin. The unit is between 250–400 metres thick and at its base consists of sandstone-mudstone alterations, followed by a sequence dominated by red mudstone with infrequent sandstone lens beds, with minor ferruginous shale within the sandstones. It was deposited in fluvial conditions. It is considered to be Late Permian in age. An abundant terrestrial fauna is known from nodules found near the village of Golleti in the Adilabad district of Telangana, the only such fauna known from the Permian of India. The fauna found includes the dicynodonts ''Endothiodon, Dicynodontoides, Pristerodon ''Pristerodon'' is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian of South Africa, Zambia and India. Paleobiology Brain and senses ''Pristerodon'' were among the earliest land animals able to hear airborne sound as opposed to ...'' and '' Sauroscaptor,'' as well as a small ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2016 In Paleontology
Flora Plants Fungi Cnidarians Research * '' Yunnanoascus haikouensis'', previously thought to be a member of Ctenophora, is reinterpreted as a crown-group medusozoan by Han ''et al.'' (2016). * A study on the fossil corals from the Late Triassic (Norian) outcrops in Antalya Province (Turkey), indicating that the corals lived in symbiosis with photosynthesizing dinoflagellate algae, is published by Frankowiak ''et al.'' (2016). New taxa Arthropods Bryozoans Brachiopods Molluscs Echinoderms Conodonts Fishes Amphibians Research * A study on the histology and growth histories of the humeri of the specimens of '' Acanthostega'' recovered from the mass-death deposit of Stensiö Bjerg (Greenland) is published by Sanchez ''et al.'' (2016), who argue that even the largest individuals from this deposit are juveniles. * Fossils of a tetrapod resembling ''Ichthyostega'' and a probable whatcheeriid- grade tetrapod are described from two Devonian (Famennian) localitie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diictodontia
The Diictodontia were a group of herbivorous Dicynodonts from the Permian and Triassic of South Africa. The clade was named a sub group of the group Dicynodontia by Robert L. Carroll in 1988. Image:Diictodon-A72-03.jpg, A model of the genus ''Diictodon ''Diictodon'' is an extinct genus of pylaecephalid dicynodont. These mammal-like synapsids lived during the Late Permian period, approximately 255 million years ago. Fossils have been found in the ''Cistecephalus'' Assemblage Zone of the Mad ...'' Image:Myosaurus.jpg, '' Myosaurus'', an Emydopid Image:Diictodon.jpg, A ''Diictodon'' fossil References {{Taxonbar, from=Q5276469 Dicynodonts Guadalupian first appearances Lopingian extinctions ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kombuisia
''Kombuisia'' is a genus of dicynodont from Early to Middle Triassic (Induan to Anisian) of South Africa and Antarctica. Two species were described for the genus: ''Kombuisia frerensis'' ( type) and ''Kombuisia antarctica''. Dicynodonts were a diverse clade that inhabited the earth from the Middle Permian to the Late Triassic. ''Kombuisia'' is one of few species to survive the mass extinction event in the late Permian. ''Kombuisia'' are non-mammalian synapsid herbivores. Specimens of this genus were discovered in the 1960s and 1970s and years later were determined to be two different species of the genus. The two species were found in diverse areas, ''K. frerensis'' in South Africa and ''K. antarctica'' in Antarctica. This indicated that this genus existed in a wider biographical region in the southern hemisphere of Pangaea and believed by some to indicate the migration to Antarctica to avoid the rise in global temperatures that lead to the mass extinction. Migration to avoid ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fossils Of India
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years old to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils. The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitatively measure the absol ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Permian India
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleozoic Era; the following Triassic Period belongs to the Mesozoic Era. The concept of the Permian was introduced in 1841 by geologist Sir Roderick Murchison, who named it after the region of Perm in Russia. The Permian witnessed the diversification of the two groups of amniotes, the synapsids and the sauropsids ( reptiles). The world at the time was dominated by the supercontinent Pangaea, which had formed due to the collision of Euramerica and Gondwana during the Carboniferous. Pangaea was surrounded by the superocean Panthalassa. The Carboniferous rainforest collapse left behind vast regions of desert within the continental interior. Amniotes, which could better cope with these drier conditions, rose to dominance in place of their am ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Permian Animals Of Asia
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleozoic Era; the following Triassic Period belongs to the Mesozoic Era. The concept of the Permian was introduced in 1841 by geologist Sir Roderick Murchison, who named it after the region of Perm in Russia. The Permian witnessed the diversification of the two groups of amniotes, the synapsids and the sauropsids ( reptiles). The world at the time was dominated by the supercontinent Pangaea, which had formed due to the collision of Euramerica and Gondwana during the Carboniferous. Pangaea was surrounded by the superocean Panthalassa. The Carboniferous rainforest collapse left behind vast regions of desert within the continental interior. Amniotes, which could better cope with these drier conditions, rose to dominance in place of their ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lopingian Life
The Lopingian is the uppermost series/last epoch of the Permian. It is the last epoch of the Paleozoic. The Lopingian was preceded by the Guadalupian and followed by the Early Triassic. The Lopingian is often synonymous with the informal terms late Permian or upper Permian. The name was introduced by Amadeus William Grabau in 1931 and derives from Leping, Jiangxi in China. It consists of two stages/ ages. The earlier is the Wuchiapingian and the later is the Changhsingian. The International Chronostratigraphic Chart (v2018/07) provides a numerical age of 259.1 ±0.5 Ma. If a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) has been approved, the lower boundary of the earliest stage determines numerical age of an epoch. The GSSP for the Wuchiapingian has a numerical age of 259.8 ± 0.4 Ma. Evidence from Milankovitch cycles suggests that the length of an Earth day during this epoch was approximately 22 hours. The Lopingian ended with the Permian–Triassic extinction event. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dicynodonts
Dicynodontia is an extinct clade of anomodonts, an extinct type of non-mammalian therapsid. Dicynodonts were herbivorous animals with a pair of tusks, hence their name, which means 'two dog tooth'. Members of the group possessed a horny, typically toothless beak, unique amongst all synapsids. Dicynodonts first appeared in Southern Pangaea during the mid-Permian, ca. 270–260 million years ago, and became globally distributed and the dominant herbivorous animals in the Late Permian, ca. 260–252 Mya. They were devastated by the end-Permian Extinction that wiped out most other therapsids ca. 252 Mya. They rebounded during the Triassic but died out towards the end of that period. They were the most successful and diverse of the non-mammalian therapsids, with over 70 genera known, varying from rat-sized burrowers to elephant-sized browsers. Characteristics The dicynodont skull is highly specialised, light but strong, with the synapsid temporal openings at the rear of the skull ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bidentalia
Bidentalia is a group of dicynodont therapsids. Bidentalia was one of the first names used to describe dicynodonts; the group was established in 1876, while the name "bidentals" dates back as far as 1845. With the increasing prominence of phylogenetics, the group was redefined as a clade in 2009. Bidentalia is now considered a stem-based taxon that includes all taxa more closely related to '' Aulacephalodon bainii'' and ''Dicynodon lacerticeps'' than '' Emydops arctatus''. History In 1845, South African geologist Andrew Geddes Bain described the first known dicynodonts as "bidentals" for their two prominent tusks. "Bidental" was the first name ever used for a group of non-mammalian synapsids. The name Dicynodontia, which is more commonly used to refer to these animals, was erected by English paleontologist Richard Owen in 1860. Realizing that Bain's "bidentals" predated his "dicynodonts", Owen named Bidentalia in 1876 as a replacement name for Dicynodontia. Owen described Bident ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |