Arenaerpeton | |
---|---|
Holotype of Arenaerpeton supinatus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | † Temnospondyli |
Suborder: | † Stereospondyli |
Family: | † Chigutisauridae |
Genus: | † Arenaerpeton Hart et al., 2023 |
Type species | |
†Arenaerpeton supinatus Hart et al., 2023 |
Arenaerpeton is an extinct genus of chigutisaurid temnospondyl found in the Terrigal Formation of New South Wales, Australia. The type species is A. supinatus. [1] The genus name is derived from the Latin "Arena", meaning "sand" (a reference to the sandstone block in which the holotype was found); and "erpeton" meaning thing that creeps (commonly used in fossil amphibians). The species name "supinatus" means "supine", referring to the fact that the fossil is lying on its back.
The holotype, AM F125866, a skull and partial skeleton, originated from the Kincumber Quarry, [1] [2] where the Terrigal Formation is present.
In October 1996, Mihail Mihaildis, [3] a retired chicken farmer, purchased a large slab weighing roughly 1,450 kilograms (3,200 lb) for use in the construction of a garden retaining wall at his private property in Umina Beach, New South Wales. While landscaper David King was cleaning the rocks, he discovered the holotype specimen of Arenaerpeton supinatus. [1] [4] The holotype specimen was found in 60 centimetres (24 in) to 80 centimetres (31 in) of surrounding quartz-rich sandstone.
Shortly after, Mihaildis contacted the Australian Museum, Sydney about the discovery and in 1997, it was put on display at the "Dinosaur World Tour", a Canadian touring exhibition, which was showing in Sydney at the time. [1] One of the describers of the specimen, Lachlan Hart, saw the specimen while it was on display in 1997 at the age of twelve. [3] The fossil was eventually donated to the Australian Museum in 2000. [4]
In c. 2020, shortly before it was described, the holotype was taken to the facilities of the Australian Border Force so a more complete view of the skeleton could be seen by using X-ray scanners normally reserved for the inspection of cargo. Despite this, there was insufficient difference in X-ray attenuation between the fossil and the surrounding matrix, possibly due to the similar density between the quartz and the apatite of the fossil, or due to the low quantity of surviving bone. [1]
Arenaerpeton supinatus was then named and described by Hart et al. (2023). [1]
The length of Arenaerpeton was calculated to be 1.2 metres (3.9 ft); [1] the surviving section of the holotype measures around 94 centimetres (37 in) long. [2]
Arenaerpeton is placed in the family Chigutisauridae as the sister taxon to Kuttycephalus and Compsocerops . [1]
Koolasuchus is an extinct genus of brachyopoid temnospondyl in the family Chigutisauridae. Fossils have been found from Victoria, Australia and date back 125-120 million years ago to Barremian-Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Koolasuchus is the youngest known temnospondyl. It is known from several fragments of the skull and other bones such as vertebrae, ribs, and pectoral elements. The type species Koolasuchus cleelandi was named in 1997. K. cleelandi was adopted as the fossil emblem for the state of Victoria, Australia on 13 January 2022.
Podokesaurus is a genus of coelophysoid dinosaur that lived in what is now the eastern United States during the Early Jurassic Period. The first fossil was discovered by the geologist Mignon Talbot near Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1910. The specimen was fragmentary, preserving much of the body, limbs, and tail. In 1911, Talbot described and named the new genus and species Podokesaurus holyokensis based on it. The full name can be translated as "swift-footed lizard of Holyoke". This discovery made Talbot the first woman to find and describe a non-bird dinosaur. The holotype fossil was recognized as significant and was studied by other researchers, but was lost when the building it was kept in burned down in 1917; no unequivocal Podokesaurus specimens have since been discovered. It was made state dinosaur of Massachusetts in 2022.
Ericiolacerta is an extinct genus of small therocephalian therapsids from the early Triassic of South Africa and Antarctica. Ericiolacerta, meaning "hedgehog lizard", was named by D.M.S. Watson in 1931. The species E. parva is known from the holotype specimen which consists of a nearly complete skeleton found in the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone within the Katberg Formation of the Beaufort Group in South Africa, and from a partial jaw found in the Lower Triassic Fremouw Formation in Antarctica. Ericiolacerta was around 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length, with long limbs and relatively small teeth. It probably ate insects and other small invertebrates. The therocephalians – therapsids with mammal-like heads – were abundant in Permian times, but only a few made it into the Triassic. Ericiolacerta was one of those. It is possible that they gave rise to the cynodonts, the only therapsid group to survive into post-Triassic times. Cynodonts gave rise to mammals.
Paracyclotosaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl, which would have appeared similar to today's salamander – but much larger, measuring up to 2.45 m (8.0 ft) long and weighing between 159 and 365 kg. It lived in the Middle Triassic period, about 235 million years ago, and fossils have been found in Australia, India, and South Africa.
Mastodonsaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic of Europe. It belongs to a Triassic group of temnospondyls called Capitosauria, characterized by their large body size and presumably aquatic lifestyles. Mastodonsaurus remains one of the largest amphibians known, and may have exceeded 6 meters in length.
Cleithrolepis is an extinct genus of freshwater ray-finned fish that lived from the Induan age to the Anisian in what is now Australia and Libya. A species from Late Triassic Germany, C. brueckneri, was also ascribed to Cleithrolepis.
Uranocentrodon is an extinct genus of temnospondyls in the family Rhinesuchidae. Known from a 50 centimetres (20 in) skull, Uranocentrodon was a large predator with a length up to 3.75 metres (12.3 ft). Originally named Myriodon by van Hoepen in 1911, it was transferred to a new genus on account of the name being preoccupied in 1917. It has been synonymized with Rhinesuchus, but this has not been widely supported. It was also originally considered to be of Triassic age, but more recent analysis has placed its age as just below the Permian-Triassic boundary.
Siderops is an extinct genus of chigutisaurid temnospondyl from Early Jurassic of Australia, containing the species S. kehli.
Kryostega is a large temnospondyl amphibian from the Early or Middle Triassic of Antarctica. The genus is based on a single specimen collected in 1986 by a team led by paleontologist William H. Hammer of Augustana College, and now housed in the collections of the American Museum of Natural History.
Brachyopoidea is a superfamily of temnospondyls that lived during the Mesozoic. It contains the families Brachyopidae and Chigutisauridae. The earliest records of brachyopids are from the Lower Triassic in Australia. The latest-surviving member of the superfamily is the chigutisaurid Koolasuchus from the Early Cretaceous of Australia.
Bulgosuchus is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibians, known from an incomplete mandible and a femur recovered from the Bulgo Sandstone at Long Reef in Sydney, Australia. The type species is Bulgosuchus gargantua, which was named in 1999.
Cryobatrachus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Early Triassic of Antarctica. The type species is Cryobatrachus kitchingi. It is known from a partial skull and an imprint of the skull roof, both found in the Fremouw Formation of the Transantarctic Mountains at about 85° south latitude and described in 1974. Many small bone fragments have also been identified, although they cannot be attributed with certainty to C. kitchingi. Cryobatrachus has been classified in the family Lydekkerinidae, as it is similar in appearance to the genus Lydekkerina from South Africa.[a] Because only a small number of features distinguish it from other lydekkerinids, Cryobatrachus kitchingi has more recently been considered a nomen dubium, meaning that its distinction from other better-known species may be unwarranted.
Hyperokynodon is an extinct genus of trematosaurian temnospondyl within the family Trematosauridae. Fossils have been found in Germany. While most trematosaurids existed during the Early Triassic, Hyperokynodon has been found in Late Triassic deposits, making it the youngest known trematosaurid. Hyperokynodon was known since 1852, but it was not identified as a trematosaurid until 1987. The type and only species is H. keuperinus.
Lydekkerina is an extinct genus of stereospondyl temnospondyl. It is the type genus of the family Lydekkerinidae. Fossils have been collected from Early Triassic deposits in South Africa and Australia. The type species is L. huxleyi, first described in 1889. While most other stereospondyls were semiaquatic, Lydekkerina was exclusively terrestrial.
Platycepsion wilksoni is an extinct species of prehistoric amphibian, known from partial skeleton deposited in shale at the Gosford Quarry site of the Terrigal Formation in Australia. This specimen may represent a larval stage, as denoted by the presence of external gills, making it the first evidence of larval development in stereospondyls.
Trimerorhachis is an extinct genus of dvinosaurian temnospondyl within the family Trimerorhachidae. It is known from the Early Permian of the southwestern United States, with most fossil specimens having been found in the Texas Red Beds. The type species of Trimerorhachis, T. insignis, was named by American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1878. Cope named a second species from Texas, T. mesops, in 1896. The species T. rogersi and T. greggi are also from Texas, and the species T. sandovalensis is from New Mexico.
Macroscelesaurus is an extinct genus of therocephalian therapsid from the Late Permian of South Africa. The type species Macroscelesaurus janseni was named by Sidney H. Haughton in 1918 from the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone. It is one of the few therocephalians known from postcranial remains.
Warrenisuchus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl from the Early Triassic of Queensland, Australia. It belongs to a diverse group of Triassic temnospondyls called Capitosauria. The type species Warrenisuchus aliciae was erected in 2009. W. aliciae was originally described as a species of Parotosuchus in 1988, which is known from other species that have been found in Europe, Africa, and Antarctica. In 2000 it was then assigned to a new genus called Rewanobatrachus along with the newly named species R. gunganj, which was declared the type species of the genus. However, R. gunganj was later reclassified as a species of Watsonisuchus, invalidating the name Rewanobatrachus and requiring that R. aliciae be placed in its own genus, which was named Warrenisuchus. However, several studies suggest that Warrenisuchus aliciae may be a species of Watsonisuchus as well. Unlike most capitosaurs, Warrenisuchus is known from many juvenile skulls less than 4 centimetres (1.6 in) in length.
The Terrigal Formation is a geologic formation in the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia. Commonly seen in the Central Coast region, this stratum is up to 330 metres thick. Formed in the early to mid Triassic, it is part of the Narrabeen Group of sedimentary rocks. This formation includes interbedded fine to medium-grained sandstone and siltstone, with minor deposits of claystone. Hawkesbury Sandstone occasionally overlies the Terrigal Formation. Numerous fossils are known from this area, including the temnospondyl amphibians Arenaerpeton supinatus and Platycepsion wilksoni.
Eiectus is a potentially valid genus of extinct short-necked pliosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous period. Fossil material has been recovered from the Wallumbilla Formation (Aptian) of Queensland was initially classified under the related genus Kronosaurus until 2021.