''Arganasaurus'' is an extinct
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of prehistoric temnospondyl
amphibian
Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
belonging to the family
Metoposauridae
Metoposauridae is an extinct family of trematosaurian temnospondyls. The family is known from the Triassic period. Most members are large, approximately long and could reach 3 m long.Brusatte, S. L., Butler R. J., Mateus O., & Steyer S. J. (201 ...
that lived in Morocco during the Late Triassic (
Carnian
The Carnian (less commonly, Karnian) is the lowermost stage of the Upper Triassic Series (or earliest age of the Late Triassic Epoch). It lasted from 237 to 227 million years ago (Ma). The Carnian is preceded by the Ladinian and is followed by t ...
).
Taxonomy
The type species of ''Arganasaurus'', ''A. lyazidi'', was originally described as ''Metoposaurus lyazidi'' by Dutuit (1976) on the basis of skulls found in the
Argana Formation of northern Morocco. Hunt (1993) found the species generically distinct from the ''Metoposaurus'' type species to warrant its own genus, which he named ''Arganasaurus''.
The nominal species ''"Metoposaurus" azerouali'' Dutuit, 1976, treated as a ''nomen dubium'' by Hunt (1993), was referred to ''Arganasaurus'' by Buffa ''et al.'' (2019).
[Valentin Buffa; Nour‐Eddine Jalil; J.‐Sebastien Steyer (2019). "Redescription of ''Arganasaurus (Metoposaurus) azerouali'' (Dutuit) comb. nov. from the Upper Triassic of the Argana Basin (Morocco), and the first phylogenetic analysis of the Metoposauridae (Amphibia, Temnospondyli)". Papers in Palaeontology. in press. .]
Habitat
''Arganasaurus'' is one of two metoposaurids that inhabited the Argana Basin in the Late Triassic, the other being ''
Dutuitosaurus''. Tetrapods living alongside the two metoposaurids included the allokotosaur ''
Azendohsaurus laaroussi'', the phytosaurs ''
Arganarhinus'' and ''
Moroccorhinus'', the silesaurid ''
Diodorus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
'', the stahleckeriid ''
Moghreberia'', and the rauisuchid ''
Arganasuchus
''Arganasuchus'' is an extinct genus of "rauisuchian" (loricatan) archosaur. It is known from a single species, ''Arganasuchus dutuiti''. Fossils of this genus have been found in Upper Triassic rocks of the Argana Basin, Morocco. Though its rema ...
''.
See also
*
Prehistoric amphibian
This list of prehistoric amphibians is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be amphibians, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accep ...
*
List of prehistoric amphibians
This list of prehistoric amphibians is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be amphibians, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted g ...
References
Stereospondyls
{{temnospondyli-stub