''Panthasaurus'' is an extinct genus of large
temnospondyl
Temnospondyli (from Greek language, Greek Ï„Îμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') is a diverse order (biology), order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered Labyrinthodontia, primitive amphi ...
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 India during the Late Triassic (
Norian
The Norian is a division of the Triassic Period. It has the rank of an age (geochronology) or stage (chronostratigraphy). It lasted from ~227 to million years ago. It was preceded by the Carnian and succeeded by the Rhaetian.
Stratigraphic defi ...
) of central India. It contains one species, ''Panthasaurus maleriensis'' from the
Lower Maleri Formation
The Lower Maleri Formation is a sedimentary geological formation, rock formation found in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India. It is the lowermost member of the Pranhita–Godavari Basin. It is of late Carnian to early Norian age (Upper Triassi ...
of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Taxonomy
''Metoposaurus maleriensis'' was coined by Chowdbury (1965) for metoposaurid remains from the Maleri Formation in the Pranhita–Godavari Basin of eastern India. Later, Hunt (1993) transferred the species to the genus ''
Buettneria'', which was followed by Sulej (2002).
In a paper published in 2018, Chakravorti and Sengupta concluded that specimens of ''Metoposaurus maleriensis'' formed a morphospace and morphotype distinct from metoposaurids found in
Laurasia
Laurasia () was the more northern of two large landmasses that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from around ( Mya), the other being Gondwana. It separated from Gondwana (beginning in the late Triassic period) during the breakup of Pan ...
. They erected a new genus, ''Panthasaurus'', for ''M. maleriensis''.
See also
*
Triassic–Jurassic extinction event
The Triassic–Jurassic (Tr-J) extinction event, often called the end-Triassic extinction, marks the boundary between the Triassic and Jurassic periods, , and is one of the top five major extinction events of the Phanerozoic eon, profoundly affect ...
*
Timeline of paleontology
Timeline of paleontology
Antiquity – 16th century
* 6th century B.C. — The pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Xenophanes of Colophon argues that fossils of marine organisms show that dry land was once under water.
* 4th century B.C. â ...
References
Triassic temnospondyls of Asia
Late Triassic amphibians of Asia
Norian genera
Trematosaurs
Fossil taxa described in 2018
Triassic India
{{temnospondyli-stub