Bolosaurus Grandis on:
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''Bolosaurus'' (from Ancient Greek ''bolos'', "lump" + ''sauros'': lizard]) is an
The Permian period is characterized by the presence of a single supercontinent called Pangea. Pangaea stretched from pole to pole, and thus created a single great ocean called Panthalassa, and the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, which was located between Asia and Gondwana. The single gigantic continental landmass created extreme climates, which are characterized by extreme variations of heat and cold as well as highly seasonal monsoon conditions in some parts of the supercontinent. Not all regions received abundant rainfalls, and deserts were widespread on Pangaea. Such climate patterns favored gymnosperms over plants that use spore dispersion.
Skull:
The skulls of Bolosaurus are basically triangular in form. The skull is wider and higher in posterior region while the anterior snout terminates bluntly. The orbits are large and circular in outline.
Teeth:
Tooth planted in shallow cavity with its crowns expanded transversely to the jaw axis. In the upper jaw the posterior internal half of the maxillary series is low and horizontal, forming a ledge. The anterior external part forms into a cusp. The teeth of the lower jaw is different from those of the upper jaw via reversed position of ledge and cusp. This pattern suggests that Bolosaurus was herbivorous in diet. (Cope, 1878) The best preserved specimen showed total of 16 teeth. (Case 1907)
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
genus of bolosaurid ankyramorph
Ankyramorpha ("anchor forms") is an extinct clade of procolophonomorph parareptiles which lived between the early Cisuralian epoch (middle Sakmarian stage) to the latest Triassic period (latest Rhaetian stage) of Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Austral ...
parareptile from the Cisuralian
The Cisuralian is the first Series (stratigraphy), series/Epoch (geology), epoch of the Permian. The Cisuralian was preceded by the Pennsylvanian (geology), Pennsylvanian and followed by the Guadalupian. The Cisuralian Epoch is named after the w ...
epoch (middle Sakmarian to early Kungurian stages) of North Asia and North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
( Red Beds of Texas and Oklahoma).
Geological and environmental information
The Permian period is characterized by the presence of a single supercontinent called Pangea. Pangaea stretched from pole to pole, and thus created a single great ocean called Panthalassa, and the Paleo-Tethys Ocean, which was located between Asia and Gondwana. The single gigantic continental landmass created extreme climates, which are characterized by extreme variations of heat and cold as well as highly seasonal monsoon conditions in some parts of the supercontinent. Not all regions received abundant rainfalls, and deserts were widespread on Pangaea. Such climate patterns favored gymnosperms over plants that use spore dispersion.
Historical information / discovery
The first Bolosaurus was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1878. His article "Descriptions of Extinct Batrachia and Reptilia from the Permian Formation of Texas" mentioned the findings of crushed skull and few vertebrae of ''Bolosaurus'' striatus and ''Bolosaurus'' rapidens (Cope 1878). The imperfect skull of ''Bolosaurus'' major was found by Robert Broom in 1911 and was published in his article "On the structure and Affinities of Bolosaurus" in 1913 (Broom 1913). In 1974 a bolosaurid maxilla was found by Tartarinov in Mylva River, Komi, Russia and was named ''Bolosaurus'' traati (Tartarinov 1974). The most recent Bolosaurus species to have been discovered was by Robert R. Reisz, who found the jawbones of ''Bolosaurus'' grandis and published it in 2002 (Reisz 2002).Description and paleobiology
Skull:
The skulls of Bolosaurus are basically triangular in form. The skull is wider and higher in posterior region while the anterior snout terminates bluntly. The orbits are large and circular in outline.
Teeth:
Tooth planted in shallow cavity with its crowns expanded transversely to the jaw axis. In the upper jaw the posterior internal half of the maxillary series is low and horizontal, forming a ledge. The anterior external part forms into a cusp. The teeth of the lower jaw is different from those of the upper jaw via reversed position of ledge and cusp. This pattern suggests that Bolosaurus was herbivorous in diet. (Cope, 1878) The best preserved specimen showed total of 16 teeth. (Case 1907)
References
*Berman, DS, RR Reisz, D Scott, AC Henrici, SS Sumida & T Martens (2000), Early Permian bipedal reptile. Science 290: 969–972. H. Bolosauridae. *Cope, Edward Drinker. "Descriptions of extinct Batrachia and Reptilia from the Permian formation of Texas." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (1878): 505–530. *Broom, Robert, Edward Drinker Cope, and Ermine Cowles Case. "On the structure and affinities of Bolosaurus. Bulletin of the AMNH; v. 32, article 33." (1913). *Case, Ermine Cowles. "Description of the skull of Bolosaurus striatus Cope. Bulletin of the AMNH; v. 23, article 28." (1907). *Reisz, Robert R., Vaia Barkas, and Diane Scott. "A new Early Permian bolosaurid reptile from the Richards Spur Dolese Brothers Quarry, near Fort Sill, Oklahoma." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22.1 (2002): 23–28. *Watson, David Meredith Seares. On Bolosaurus and the origin and classification of reptiles. The Museum, 1954. Procolophonomorphs Fossil taxa described in 1878 Permian reptiles of Asia Permian reptiles of North America Prehistoric reptile genera {{permian-reptile-stub