|
Phytosaurs
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 other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Redondasaurus
''Redondasaurus'' is an extinct genus of phytosaur from the Late Triassic (221.5 to 201.6 million years ago) of the southwestern United States. It was named by Hunt & Lucas in 1993, and contains two species, ''R. gregorii'' and ''R. bermani''. It is the youngest and most evolutionarily-advanced of the phytosaurs. History of discovery The first specimen now described with genus ''Redondasaurus'' was found in 1939 by D.E. Savage in the Travesser Formation in New Mexico. Savage originally described this find as ''Machaeroprosopus''. The 1947 discovery of another phytosaur skull in the Redonda Formation, New Mexico, by E.H. Colbert and J.T. Gregory led to the first recognition that both skulls represented a new taxon. In addition, they proposed that the skulls represented the most derived phytosaur in North America due to their supratemporal fenestrae being hidden in dorsal view. A third skull was discovered by D.S. Berman in the 1980s and was later identified as ''Pseudopalatus'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytosauridae
Parasuchidae is a clade of phytosaurs more derived than ''Diandongosuchus'', a basal phytosaur. It encompasses nearly all phytosaurs, include early ''Parasuchus''-grade forms as well as a more restricted clade of more specialized phytosaurs. This more restricted clade is traditionally known as the family Phytosauridae and more recently as the subfamily Mystriosuchinae. Parasuchids have been recovered from Late Triassic deposits in Europe, North America, India, Morocco, Thailand, Brazil, Greenland and Madagascar. In their osteology of ''Parasuchus'', Kammerer et al. (2016) suggested using Parasuchidae to include taxa traditionally included in Phytosauridae as well as ''Parasuchus''-grade taxa. Stocker et al. (2017) use the phytosaur classification advocated by Kammerer et al. (2016) by recovering ''Diandongosuchus ''Diandongosuchus'' is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile, possibly a member of the Phytosauria, known from the Middle Triassic of China. The type species '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parasuchidae
Parasuchidae is a clade of phytosaurs more derived than ''Diandongosuchus'', a basal phytosaur. It encompasses nearly all phytosaurs, include early ''Parasuchus''-grade forms as well as a more restricted clade of more specialized phytosaurs. This more restricted clade is traditionally known as the family Phytosauridae and more recently as the subfamily Mystriosuchinae. Parasuchids have been recovered from Late Triassic deposits in Europe, North America, India, Morocco, Thailand, Brazil, Greenland and Madagascar. In their osteology of ''Parasuchus'', Kammerer et al. (2016) suggested using Parasuchidae to include taxa traditionally included in Phytosauridae as well as ''Parasuchus''-grade taxa. Stocker et al. (2017) use the phytosaur classification advocated by Kammerer et al. (2016) by recovering ''Diandongosuchus ''Diandongosuchus'' is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile, possibly a member of the Phytosauria, known from the Middle Triassic of China. The type species '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phytosaurus
''Phytosaurus'' (meaning "plant lizard") is a nomen dubium, dubious genus of Extinction, extinct Parasuchidae, parasuchid phytosaur found in an outcrop of the Keuper (likely the Exter Formation) in Germany. ''Phytosaurus'' was the first phytosaur to be described, being done so by Georg Friedrich von Jaeger in 1828.G. F. Jaeger. (1828). Über die Fossile Reptilien, Welche in Württemberg Aufgefunden Sind [On the Fossil Reptiles That Are Found in Württemberg]. ''Verlag der Metzler'schen Buchhandlung, Stuttgart'' 1-48 The type species is ''P. cylindricodon'' and a second species, ''P. cubicodon'', is also known. Discovery and naming In 1826, the holotype, holotypes of both species were discovered in Württemberg, Wurttemburg, Germany at the "Neckar" site at the base of the hill which Wildenau Castle stands upon. The holotype of ''P. cylindricodon'' consists of parts of the skull and jaws, with natural casts of the teeth which, however, did not preserve their conical form but were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francosuchus
''Francosuchus'' is a dubious genus of probably basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic (late Carnian stage) of Bavaria, southern Germany. It was named by Oskar Kuhn in 1933 and the type species is ''Francosuchus broilii''. In the same article Kuhn also named a second species ''Francosuchus latus''. Both species were known solely from their holotypes, two partial skulls that were housed at the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontogy and Geology. Both specimens were collected at Ebrach Quarry, bed number 13 from the late Carnian-aged Blasensandstein Member of the Hassberge Formation.Kuhn, O. (1933). Labyrinthodonten und Parasuchier aus dem mittleren Keuper von Ebrach in Oberfranken. ''Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie, und Paläontologie, Beilage-Band, Abteilung B'', 69:94-144. As the holotypes were destroyed during World War II and poorly documented, ''Francosuchus'' and its species are usually considered to be nomina dubia. Kuhn (1936) described and named a thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. The corresponding series (stratigraphy), series of rock beds is known as the Upper Triassic. The Late Triassic is divided into the Carnian, Norian and Rhaetian Geologic time scale, Ages. Many of the first dinosaurs evolved during the Late Triassic, including ''Plateosaurus'', ''Coelophysis'', and ''Eoraptor''. The Triassic–Jurassic extinction event began during this epoch and is one of the five major mass extinction events of the Earth. Etymology The Triassic was named in 1834 by Friedrich August von Namoh, Friedrich von Alberti, after a succession of three distinct rock layers (Greek meaning 'triad') that are widespread in southern Germany: the lower Buntsandstein (colourful sandstone'')'', t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archosauriform
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 Proterosuchidae and more advanced forms, were originally superficiall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diandongosuchus
''Diandongosuchus'' is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile, possibly a member of the Phytosauria, known from the Middle Triassic of China. The type species ''Diandongosuchus fuyuanensis'' was named in 2012 from the Falang Formation of Yunnan Province. It is a marine species that shows similarities with another Chinese Triassic species called '' Qianosuchus mixtus'', although it has fewer adaptations toward marine life. It was originally classified as the basal-most member of the pseudosuchian clade Poposauroidea. However, a subsequent study conducted by Stocker ''et al.'' (2016, 2017) indicated it to be the basalmost known phytosaur instead. Description ''Diandongosuchus'' is known from a nearly complete articulated skeleton ( ZMNH M8770) missing most of the tail. The total length of ZMNH M8770 is and the estimated body length of the animal in life is around . The specimen is preserved on its right side, with the underside of the lower jaws and the trunk showing. It was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order (biology)
Order ( la, wikt:ordo#Latin, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between Family_(biology), family and Class_(biology), class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized by the nomenclature codes. An immediately higher rank, superorder, is sometimes added directly above order, with suborder directly beneath order. An order can also be defined as a group of related families. What does and does not belong to each order is determined by a taxonomist, as is whether a particular order should be recognized at all. Often there is no exact agreement, with different taxonomists each taking a different position. There are no hard rules that a taxonomist needs to follow in describing or recognizing an order. Some taxa are accepted almost universally, while others are recognized only rarely. The name of an order is usually written with a capital letter. Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. The stories regarding Huxley's famous 1860 Oxford evolution debate with Samuel Wilberforce were a key moment in the wider acceptance of evolution and in his own career, although some historians think that the surviving story of the debate is a later fabrication. Huxley had been planning to leave Oxford on the previous day, but, after an encounter with Robert Chambers, the author of '' Vestiges'', he changed his mind and decided to join the debate. Wilberforce was coached by Richard Owen, against whom Huxley also debated about whether humans were closely related to apes. Huxley was slow to accept some of Darwin's ideas, such as gradualism, and was undecided about natural selection, but despite this he was wholehearted in his public support of Darw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crocodilian
Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period ( Cenomanian stage) and are the closest living relatives of birds, as the two groups are the only known survivors of the Archosauria. Members of the order's total group, the clade Pseudosuchia, appeared about 250 million years ago in the Early Triassic period, and diversified during the Mesozoic era. The order Crocodilia includes the true crocodiles (family Crocodylidae), the alligators and caimans (family Alligatoridae), and the gharial and false gharial (family Gavialidae). Although the term 'crocodiles' is sometimes used to refer to all of these, crocodilians is a less ambiguous vernacular term for members of this group. Large, solidly built, lizard-like reptiles, crocodilians have long flattened snouts, laterally compressed tails, and eyes, ears, and nostrils at the top o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convergent Evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last common ancestor of those groups. The cladistic term for the same phenomenon is homoplasy. The recurrent evolution of flight is a classic example, as flying insects, birds, pterosaurs, and bats have independently evolved the useful capacity of flight. Functionally similar features that have arisen through convergent evolution are ''analogous'', whereas '' homologous'' structures or traits have a common origin but can have dissimilar functions. Bird, bat, and pterosaur wings are analogous structures, but their forelimbs are homologous, sharing an ancestral state despite serving different functions. The opposite of convergence is divergent evolution, where related species evolve different traits. Convergent evolution is similar to parallel evo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
