''Pumiliopareia'' is an extinct genus of
pareiasaurid parareptile from the
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleo ...
period of South Africa. It is known from a complete skeleton with
osteoderms.
Description
''Pumiliopareia'' was about 50 cm in length with a 12 cm skull. It is the smallest known member of the pareiasaurs, measuring only a fifth as long as some of its larger relatives. Like ''
Anthodon'', its body was entirely covered with osteoderms. In analyses that support a pareiasaur origin of turtles, the sister taxon of the
testudines. However it specifically shares with turtles a single trait only: Ribs greatly expanded anteroposteriorly (i.e. wide).
Classification
Originally included under the genus ''
Nanoparia
''Nanoparia'' is an extinct genus of pareiasaur that lived in the Permian.
Description
It was about 60 cm in length, and weighed around 8 to 10 kilograms.
Classification
This is an unusual small, spiny specialised form. The skull is v ...
'', it was given its own name by Lee 1997 who found it did not form a clade with ''Nanoparia luckhoffi'', the type species of that genus, and preferred to have monophyletic genera. ''Nanoparia'' may still be a
paraphyletic
In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In ...
genus, which is allowed in Linanean binomial taxonomy, or it may be that all three
pumiliopareiasaurs are similar enough to belong to single genus.
External links
Elginiidae and Pumiliopareiasauriaat Palaeos
Pareiasaurs
Permian reptiles of Africa
Fossil taxa described in 1948
Prehistoric reptile genera
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