''Palaeohatteria'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of basal sphenacodonts known from the Early Permian

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

(

Sakmarian In the geologic timescale, the Sakmarian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is a subdivision of the Cisuralian Epoch or Series. The Sakmarian lasted between 293.52 and million years ago (Ma). It was preceded by the Asselian and followed by t ...

stage) of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It contains a single species, ''Palaeohatteria longicaudata''.

Discovery

''Palaeohatteria'' is based on very young individuals including

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

s and partial

postcrania Postcrania (postcranium, adjective: postcranial) in zoology and vertebrate paleontology is all or part of the skeleton apart from the skull. Frequently, fossil remains, e.g. of dinosaurs or other extinct tetrapods, consist of partial or isolated sk ...

l skeletons. All specimens were collected at Niederhäslich locality, in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, from the Niederhäslich Limestone Member of the Niederhäslich Formation, Rotliegend Group (

Döhlen Basin The Döhlen Basin (german: Döhlener Becken) is a landscape unit in the German federal state of Saxony, southwest of Dresden. The Döhlen Basin has a length of 22 km and a width of 6 km and lies within the district of Sächsische Schwei ...

), dating to the

stage of the Cisuralian

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

, about 295.0 -290.1 million years old.

Description

''Palaeohatteria'' was a fairly small synapsid, up to 60 cm in length and with a mass of about 3 kg. The affinities of ''Palaeohatteria'' to the

pelycosaur Pelycosaur ( ) is an older term for basal or primitive Late Paleozoic synapsids, excluding the therapsids and their descendants. Previously, the term ''mammal-like reptile'' had been used, and pelycosaur was considered an order, but this is ...

were first described in details by

Alfred Sherwood Romer Alfred Sherwood Romer (December 28, 1894 – November 5, 1973) was an American paleontologist and biologist and a specialist in vertebrate evolution. Biography Alfred Romer was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Harry Houston Romer an ...

& Llewellyn Price (1940). They revised the taxonomy of pelycosaurs and synonymized ''Palaeohatteria'' (alongside with '' Pantelosaurus'' and others) with ''

Haptodus ''Haptodus'' is an extinct genus of basal sphenacodont, member of the clade that includes therapsids and hence, mammals. It was at least in length. It lived in present-day France during the Early Permian. It was a medium-sized predator, feeding ...

'', creating the new combination ''Haptodus longicaudata''. After describing a new species of ''Haptodus'' in 1977, Currie (1979) synonymized all European haptodontines, as well as '' Cutleria wilmarthi'', with the type of the genus, ''H. baylei''. Later, Laurin (1993 and 1994) considered Haptodontinae to represent a

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of conver ...

grade of basal sphenacodonts, and revalidated ''Palaeohatteria'' among other genera and species. His revision has been accepted since. Due to the early

ontological In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exi ...

state of its remains, it is rarely included in

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analyses. However, it is well established that ''Palaeohatteria'' is closely related to " haptodontines" (= basal sphenacodonts) like ''Pantelosaurus''. The

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to ...

below shows ''Palaeohatteria'' phylogenetic position among other sphenacodonts following Fröbisch ''et al.'' (2011). Spindler (2016) utilized use of the name Palaeohatteriidae for the clade comprising ''Palaeohatteria'' and ''Pantelosaurus''.Spindler, F. 2016. Morphological description and taxonomic status of ''Palaeohatteria'' and ''Pantelosaurus'' (Synapsida: Sphenacodontia). Freiberger Forschungshefte C550(23): 1–57. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321129043_Morphological_description_and_taxonomic_status_of_Palaeohatteria_and_Pantelosaurus_Synapsida_Sphenacodontia

Etymology

''Palaeohatteria'' was first described and named by Carl Friedrich Heinrich Credner in

1888 In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...

and the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

is ''Palaeohatteria longicaudata''. The generic name is derived from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

παλαιός (''palaios'') "old, ancient", and from ''

Hatteria Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles Endemism, endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori langua ...

'', a proposed common name and generic name (like ''Rhynchocephalus'') to the

Tuatara Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language and m ...

(''Sphenodon punctatus''). Credner considered it to be an ancient relative of "''Hatteria''". Baur (1889), who considered the name ''Sphenodon'' to be valid for Tuatara (while "''Hatteria''" is a junior synonym, as it is accepted today), claimed that the name ''Palaeohatteria'' should be also invalid. He proposed the name ''Palaeosphenodon'' (meaning "ancient ''Sphenodon''") to replace it, however his proposal was rejected. Hence, ''Palaeosphenodon'' is a junior synonym of ''Palaeohatteria''. The specific name is derived from

meaning "long-tailed" in reference to its relatively long tail.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7126420 Prehistoric sphenacodonts Prehistoric synapsid genera Sakmarian genera Cisuralian synapsids of Europe Permian Germany Fossils of Germany Fossil taxa described in 1888 Taxa named by Carl Friedrich Heinrich Credner