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Eosuchia
Eosuchians are an extinct order of diapsid reptiles. Depending on which taxa are included the order may have ranged from the late Carboniferous to the Eocene but the consensus is that eosuchians are confined to the Permian and Triassic. Eosuchia was initially defined to include all "thecodontian" reptiles which did not have an antorbital fenestra but did retain tabulars, postparietals and a large pineal foramen (Broom, 1914). Broom coined the term as a new suborder for ''Youngina''. A definition for inclusion in the order is difficult: it is almost easier to list the primitively-diapsid reptiles that have not been included at one time or another. The order has almost been treated as a dustbin for diapsids that are not obviously lepidosaurian or archosaurian. One consequence has been Romer's suggestion of the alternative order Younginiformes to be applied strictly to those forms with the primitive diapsid form, in particular, a complete lowermost arch as the quadratojugal and j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenyasaurus
''Kenyasaurus'' is an extinct genus of basal (phylogenetics), basal tangasaurid known from the Early Triassic geological timescale, period of Coast Province, southeastern Kenya. It contains a single species, ''Kenyasaurus mariakaniensis''. Discovery ''Kenyasaurus'' is known only from the holotype specimen, National Museums of Kenya, KNM-MA1, a well preserved and partially complete postcranial skeleton, lacking much of the neck, pectoral girdle and forelimb, which is hosted at the Kenya National Museum. It was found at the Mariakani locality which is located 25 miles from Mombasa, southeastern Kenya. It was collected from the upper part of the Maji ya Chumvi Beds (Maji-Ya-Chumvi Formation). These beds form the lower part of the Middle Duruma Sandstone Series (Duruma Group) and on the basis of lithological similarities with beds in Tanzania and Madagascar were dated to the Induan and Olenekian stages of the Early Triassic period, about 251.0-245 million years ago. This specimen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Younginiformes
Younginiformes is a replacement name for the taxon Eosuchia, proposed by Alfred Romer in 1947. The Eosuchia having become a wastebasket taxon for many probably distantly-related primitive diapsid reptiles ranging from the late Carboniferous to the Eocene, Romer proposed that this be replaced by Younginiformes, to include the Younginidae and a very few similar families, ranging from the Permian to the Triassic. Younginiformes (including ''Acerosodontosaurus'', ''Hovasaurus'', '' Kenyasaurus'', ''Tangasaurus'', '' Thadeosaurus'', ''Youngina'', et alia sensu Currie and other researchers in the 1980s) is probably not a clade. It appears to represent a grade of South African Permo-Triassic diapsids that are not more closely related to each other as a whole than they are to other reptiles. A cladistic analysis by Laurin and Pineiro (2017) recovers Parareptilia Parareptilia ("at the side of reptiles") is a subclass or clade of basal sauropsids (reptiles), typically considered the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangasauridae
Tangasauridae is a family of diapsids. Specimens have been found that are of Late Permian to Early Triassic in age from the Sakamena Group of western Madagascar. They lived alongside other taxa present from the Sakamena Group, including temnospondyls, rhynchosaurs, and gomphodont eucynodonts. Fossils have been found of numerous specimens of common members of this family such as ''Hovasaurus'' and '' Thadeosaurus'' in different stages of ontogenic development.Currie, Philip J and Carroll, Robert L. (1984) Ontogenic changes in the eosuchian reptile ''Thadeosaurus''. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 4(1):68-84 Recent material from the Middle Sakamena Formation of the Morondava Basin of Madagascar that dates back to the early Triassic period suggests that the Tangasauridae were relatively unaffected by the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Description and phylogeny Tangasaurids are known to have been a highly derived group of diapsids. One subfamily, Kenyasaurinae, is co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangasaurid
Tangasauridae is a family of diapsids. Specimens have been found that are of Late Permian to Early Triassic in age from the Sakamena Group of western Madagascar. They lived alongside other taxa present from the Sakamena Group, including temnospondyls, rhynchosaurs, and gomphodont eucynodonts. Fossils have been found of numerous specimens of common members of this family such as ''Hovasaurus'' and ''Thadeosaurus'' in different stages of ontogenic development.Currie, Philip J and Carroll, Robert L. (1984) Ontogenic changes in the eosuchian reptile ''Thadeosaurus''. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 4(1):68-84 Recent material from the Middle Sakamena Formation of the Morondava Basin of Madagascar that dates back to the early Triassic period suggests that the Tangasauridae were relatively unaffected by the Permian-Triassic extinction event. Description and phylogeny Tangasaurids are known to have been a highly derived group of diapsids. One subfamily, Kenyasaurinae, is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Younginidae
Younginidae is an extinct family of neodiapsid reptiles from the Late Permian and Early Triassic. In a phylogenetic context, younginids are near the base of the clade Neodiapsida. Younginidae includes the species ''Youngina capensis'' from the Late Permian of South Africa and '' Thadeosaurus colcanapi'' from the Late Permian and Early Triassic of Madagascar. '' Heleosuchus griesbachi'' from the Late Permian of South Africa may also be a member of the family. Younginidae was traditionally assigned to Eosuchia, an order containing an assemblage of basal diapsids now thought to represent an evolutionary grade rather than a true clade. In 1945 paleontologist Alfred Romer reclassified Younginidae within a new group, Younginiformes, grouping it with the families Tangasauridae and Prolacertidae. Romer considered Younginidae to include many genera that are no longer classified as younginids: ''Paliguana'', '' Palaegama'', and ''Saurosternon'' are now considered basal lepidosauromorphs, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangasaurus
''Tangasaurus'' is an extinct genus of aquatic basal tangasaurid neodiapsid known from the Late Permian period (late Changhsingian stage) of Tanga, northeastern Tanzania. It contains a single species, ''Tangasaurus mennelli''. Discovery ''Tangasaurus'' is known only from three syntypes which represent two individuals. The small individual, which is well preserved in two specimens ( part and counterpart) and is known from a partial skull and a nearly complete postcranial skeleton, was designated as the lectotype of the genus. The part slab (showing the partial skull and postcranial) is hosted at the Bulawayo Museum, Zimbabwe, while the counterpart slab SAM 6231 (showing the other side of the postcranial) is hosted at the South African Museum, Cape Town. The third syntype, SAM 6232, represents a nearly complete postcranial skeleton from a larger individual, but it is poorly preserved. All specimens were collected by F. P. Mennell in 1922 at the Mizimbazi River near ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Youngina
''Youngina'' is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile from the Late Permian Beaufort Group ('' Tropidostoma''-''Dicynodon'' zones) of the Karoo Red Beds of South Africa. This, and a few related forms, make up the family Younginidae, within the Order Eosuchia (proposed by Broom in 1914). Eosuchia, having become a wastebasket taxon for many probably distantly-related primitive diapsid reptiles ranging from the Late Carboniferous to the Eocene, Romer proposed that it be replaced by Younginiformes (that included Younginidae and the Tangasauridae, ranging from the Permian to the Triassic). ''Youngina'' is known from several specimens. Many of these were attributed to as separate genera and species (such as ''Youngoides'' and ''Youngopsis''), but it was later realized that they were not distinct from ''Y. capensis''. The holotype specimen of ''Youngina'' was described briefly in 1914. The "''Youngoides romeri''" specimen was first attributed to ''Youngina'', but later given its eponymo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hovasaurus
''Hovasaurus'' is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile belonging to the order Eosuchia. It lived in what is now Madagascar during the Late Permian and Early Triassic, being a survivor of the Permian–Triassic extinction event and the paleontologically youngest member of the Tangasauridae. Fossils have been found in the Permian Lower and Triassic Middle Sakamena Formations of the Sakamena Group, where it is amongst the commonest fossils. Its morphology suggests an aquatic ecology. Description ''Hovasaurus'' resembled a slender lizard, two thirds of total length was taken up by its long tail. It had snout-vent length up to long, with long tail. It was well adapted to an aquatic life, with the tail being laterally flattened like that of a sea snake. Some stones have been found in the abdomen of fossil ''Hovasaurus'', indicating the creatures swallowed these for ballast, preventing them from floating to the surface when hunting fish. Paleoenvironment The Lower Sakamamen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heleosuchus
''Heleosuchus'' is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile from the Late Permian of South Africa. It was originally described as a species of ''Saurosternon'' by Richard Owen. The type species is ''Saurosternon griesbachi''. The specific name honours Carl Ludolf Griesbach. It was later recognized as a separate genus by Robert Broom. At one time, the type specimen of ''Heleosuchus'' was thought to be lost. However, it remains at the Natural History Museum, Vienna, where it is numbered NHMW 2374, while the Natural History Museum (formerly British Museum (Natural History)) possesses a cast numbered R. 5000. Several other casts of NHMW 2374 are present in several other European institutions, among them a cast of higher fidelity to the original. While the type was thought to be lost, Susan E. Evans redescribed this taxon on the basis of an older mold which had been taken of the type specimen prior to its disappearance. When the specimen appeared in later years, a higher quality mold wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), 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 Paleozoic Era; the following Triassic Period belongs to the Mesozoic Era. The concept of the Permian was introduced in 1841 by geologist Sir Roderick Murchison, who named it after the Perm Governorate, region of Perm in Russia. The Permian witnessed the diversification of the two groups of amniotes, the synapsids and the Sauropsida, sauropsids (reptiles). The world at the time was dominated by the supercontinent Pangaea, which had formed due to the collision of Euramerica and Gondwana during the Carboniferous. Pangaea was surrounded by the superocean Panthalassa. The Carboniferous rainforest collapse left behind vast regions of desert within the continental interior. Amniotes, which could better cope with these drier conditi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thadeosaurus
''Thadeosaurus'' is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile belonging to the family Younginidae. Fossils have been found in the Lower Sakamena Formation ( Sakamena Group) of the Morondava Basin, Madagascar in 1981, and date to the late Permian to the early Triassic period. Description ''Thadeosaurus'' was a lizard-like animal, with a remarkably long tail that comprised about two thirds of the animal's total length of . It also had long toes, especially on the hind legs, which would have given it a powerful stride, since the toes would still touch the ground while the foot was being raised. Combined with a strong breast bone to increase the strength in the forelimbs, this means that ''Thadeosaurus'' was probably a good runner. Below is a cladogram from Reisz ''et al.'' (2011) showing the phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
