Ctenosauriscus

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Ctenosauriscus
Temporal range: Early Triassic, 247.5–247.2  Ma
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Ctenosauriscus koeneni holotype.png
Part slab of the holotype fossil of Ctenosauriscus koeneni
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauria
Clade: Pseudosuchia
Family: Ctenosauriscidae
Genus: Ctenosauriscus
Kuhn, 1964
Species

Ctenosauriscus is an extinct genus of sail-backed poposauroid archosaur from Early Triassic deposits of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It gives its name to the family Ctenosauriscidae, which includes other sail-backed poposauroids such as Arizonasaurus . Fossils have been found in latest Olenekian deposits around 247.5-247.2 million years old, making it one of the first known archosaurs.

History of discovery

Ctenosauriscus is known from the holotype, GZG.V.4191, a single partial preserved postcranial skeleton including partial vertebral column, ribs and girdle. The holotype is composed of four slabs, which were labeled A1, A2, B1, and B2 in a 2011 study. Slabs A1 and B1 form the part and slabs A2 and B2 form the counterpart. The holotype was discovered in early 1871 in the Bremke dell locality, near the county of Göttingen. The holotype was found in a deposit called the Solling-Bausandstein, which is an outcropping of the upper Middle Buntsandstein in the region of Eichsfeld. After the holotype was uncovered, it was housed in the University of Göttingen . It remained undescribed until 1902, when German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene designated it to the new species Ctenosaurus koeneni. [1]

Edaphosaurus and Platyhystrix, two sail-backed animals from the Early Permian. Ctenosauriscus was first classified as a pelycosaur similar to Edaphosaurus, and later as a temnospondyl closely related to Platyhystrix. EdaphosaurusDB.jpg
Edaphosaurus and Platyhystrix, two sail-backed animals from the Early Permian. Ctenosauriscus was first classified as a pelycosaur similar to Edaphosaurus, and later as a temnospondyl closely related to Platyhystrix.

Von Huene considered C. koeneni to be a late-surviving species of Pelycosauria, a group of distant mammal relatives otherwise known only from the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian. He based this classification on its similarity with sail-backed pelycosaurs like Dimetrodon . Austrian paleontologist Othenio Abel placed C. koeneni as a temnospondyl amphibian closely related to the sail-backed Platyhystrix (which, like Dimetrodon, was from the Early Permian). [2] The name Ctenosaurus was preoccupied by a species of iguanid lizard (now called Ctenosaura ), so a new generic name, Ctenosauriscus, was erected by paleontologist Oskar Kuhn in 1964. [3] Paleontologist B. Krebs redescribed the holotype and reclassified Ctenosauriscus as an archosaur based on similarities with the sail-backed pseudosuchian Hypselorhachis from the Middle Triassic Manda Beds of Tanzania. [2]

Fragmentary material which has been referred to this genus Ctenosauriscus koeneni.JPG
Fragmentary material which has been referred to this genus

Ctenosauriscus was found in the Solling Formation, which was deposited about 247.5 to 247.2 million years ago in the latest Olenekian stage. This age is based on radiometric dating and records of Milankovitch cycles in the formation. Ctenosauriscus was traditionally thought to have lived during the Middle Triassic after Krebs placed the Middle Buntsandstein within the Anisian stage. [2]

A redescription of the holotype was published by Richard J. Butler, Stephen L. Brusatte, Mike Reich, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Rainer R. Schoch and Jahn J. Hornung in 2011. They did not identify any autapomorphies for Ctenosauriscus, but they noted that the holotype can be distinguished from other ctenosauriscids by a unique combination of characters. Ctenosauriscus is one of the oldest archosaurs to date, along with Vytshegdosuchus from Russia and probably Xilousuchus, a ctenosauriscid from China. [2]

Description

Life restoration of C. koeneni. Ctenosauriscus BW.jpg
Life restoration of C. koeneni.

The most prominent feature of Ctenosauriscus is its sail-like back, formed from elongated neural spines of the dorsal and cervical vertebrae. These spines curve slightly forward at the front of the sail and slightly backward at the back of the sail. Although other poposauroids like Lotosaurus and the ctenosauriscids Hypselorhachis and Xilousuchus also have elongated spines, the sail of Ctenosauriscus is one of the largest in the group. Among ctenosauriscids, Ctenosauriscus is most similar to Arizonasaurus from the Middle Triassic of the southwestern United States. Both of these ctenosauriscids have elongated vertebrae spines up to 12 times the height of the bodies of the vertebrae. The ends of the spines are wider in Ctenosauriscus, and Ctenosauriscus also has larger projections on the centra of the dorsal vertebrae. Hypselorhachis also has neural spines that are widened at the end, but they are shorter than those of Ctenosauriscus. Lotosaurus from the Middle Triassic of China also has elongate spines, but they are straighter, broader, and much shorter than those of Ctenosauriscus. [2]

Paleobiology

A 1998 study proposed that Ctenosauriscus was bipedal and that its elongated neural spines served to absorb the forces exerted from walking on two legs. Although limb bones are unknown, the study found that forces on the tips of the spines were focused on a point below the spinal column, hypothesized to be the knee joint. [4] In the 2011 redescription of Ctenosauriscus, the authors rejected this idea because for forces on the spine to meet at the knee joint, muscles would have to form a direct connection between the knee and the back. Forces exerted from movement travel from the hind legs to the hip and sacral vertebrae, not the dorsal vertebrae. The sail of Ctenosauriscus would also have shifted its center of weight toward the front of the body, making bipedal locomotion difficult or impossible. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Arizonasaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Arizonasaurus was a ctenosauriscid archosaur from the Middle Triassic. Arizonasaurus is found in the Middle Triassic Moenkopi Formation of northern Arizona. A fairly complete skeleton was found in 2002 by Sterling Nesbitt. The taxon has a large sailback formed by elongated neural spines of the vertebrae. The type species, Arizonasaurus babbitti, was named by Samuel Paul Welles in 1947.

<i>Lagerpeton</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Lagerpeton is a genus of lagerpetid avemetatarsalian, comprising a single species, L. chanarensis. First described from the Chañares Formation of Argentina by A. S. Romer in 1971, Lagerpeton's anatomy is somewhat incompletely known, with fossil specimens accounting for the pelvic girdle, hindlimbs, posterior presacral, sacral and anterior caudal vertebrae. Skull and shoulder material has also been described.

<i>Hypselorhachis</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Hypselorhachis is a genus of extinct reptile, possibly a ctenosauriscid archosaur related to Ctenosauriscus. It lived during the Triassic Period. It is currently known only from a single vertebra found from the Middle Triassic Manda Beds in Tanzania. The vertebra is preserved in reasonably good condition, as although the tall neural spine is chipped in several places it is not broken despite being quite slender, only around 20 mm thick transversely.

<i>Poposaurus</i> Extinct genus of Archosaur

Poposaurus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian archosaur from the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States. It belongs to the clade Poposauroidea, an unusual group of Triassic pseudosuchians that includes sail-backed, beaked, and aquatic forms. Fossils have been found in Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and Texas. Except for the skull, most parts of the skeleton are known. The type species, P. gracilis, was described and named by Maurice Goldsmith Mehl in 1915. A second species, P. langstoni, was originally the type species of the genus Lythrosuchus. Since it was first described, Poposaurus has been variously classified as a dinosaur, a phytosaur, and a "rauisuchian".

<i>Lotosaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Lotosaurus is an extinct genus of sail-backed poposauroid known from Hunan Province of central China.

<i>Bromsgroveia</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Bromsgroveia is an extinct genus of predatory ctenosauriscid archosaur from the Middle Triassic Bromsgrove Sandstone of England. Ctenosauriscids were a group of rauisuchians that was related to the ancestors of modern crocodiles and alligators.

<i>Sclerothorax</i> Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Sclerothorax is an extinct genus of temnospondyl from the Early Triassic of Germany. It is distinguished from other temnospondyls by its short and very wide skull and the elongated neural spines that form a ridge along its back. Sclerothorax is a basal member of Capitosauria, a large clade of temnospondyls that lived throughout the Triassic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ctenosauriscidae</span> Extinct family of reptiles

Ctenosauriscidae is an extinct family of pseudosuchian archosaurs within the clade Poposauroidea. Ctenosauriscids existed in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America during the Early Triassic to the Middle Triassic period. All species had large "sails" on their backs. Ctenosauriscids are among some of the earliest archosaurs and represent the first global radiation of the group.

Yarasuchus is an extinct genus of avemetatarsalian archosaur that lived during the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic of India. The genus was named and described in 2005 from a collection of disarticulated but fairly complete fossil material found from the Middle Triassic Yerrapalli Formation. The material is thought to be from two individuals, possibly three, with one being much more complete and articulated than the other. The type and only species is Y. deccanensis. Yarasuchus was a quadruped roughly 2–2.5 metres (6.6–8.2 ft) long, with an elongated neck and tall spines on its vertebrae. Unlike other quadrupedal Triassic reptiles, the limbs and shoulders of Yarasuchus were slender, and more like those of ornithodirans.

Rauisuchus is a genus of extinct archosaurs which lived in what is now the Geopark of Paleorrota, Brazil, during the Late Triassic period. It contains one species, R. tiradentes.

Tsylmosuchus is an extinct genus of proterosuchid archosauriform reptile known from Western Russia. Fossils referred to Tsylmosuchus occurred over a wide area in sediments corresponding to the Induan and Olenekian stages of the Early Triassic. Most of these fossils are fragmentary neck vertebrae which were originally reported as sharing similarities with crocodile-line archosaurs (pseudosuchians) such as Mandasuchus. As a result, Tsylmosuchus was first described as part of the family Rauisuchidae, making it supposedly one of the oldest known archosaurs. However, its fragmentary remains do not show any of the distinguishing features of rauisuchids or even pseudosuchians in general, so Tsylmosuchus has more recently been interpreted as an indeterminate archosauriform. Although three species of Tsylmosuchus have been named, they lack diagnostic traits and are probably not distinct from each other. In 2023, Tsylmosuchus was reinterpreted as a proterosuchid, specifically a member of the subfamily Chasmatosuchinae.

Vytshegdosuchus is an extinct genus of paracrocodylomorph archosaur known from the Early Triassic Yarenskian Gorizont of the Komi Republic of the European section of Russia. It contains a single species, Vytshegdosuchus zheshartensis. Vytshegdosuchus was named by Andreii Sennikov in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poposauroidea</span> Extinct clade of reptiles

Poposauroidea is a clade of advanced pseudosuchians. It includes poposaurids, shuvosaurids, ctenosauriscids, and other unusual pseudosuchians such as Qianosuchus and Lotosaurus. It excludes most large predatory quadrupedal "rauisuchians" such as rauisuchids and "prestosuchids". Those reptiles are now allied with crocodylomorphs in a clade known as Loricata, which is the sister taxon to the poposauroids in the clade Paracrocodylomorpha. Although it was first formally defined in 2007, the name "Poposauroidea" has been used for many years. The group has been referred to as Poposauridae by some authors, although this name is often used more narrowly to refer to the family that includes Poposaurus and its close relatives.

Xilousuchus is an extinct genus of poposauroid from lower Triassic deposits of Fugu County of northeastern Shanxi Province, China. It is known from the holotype, IVPP V 6026, a single well-preserved partial skeleton including the skull. It was found from the Heshanggou Formation of the Ordos Basin, Hazhen commune. It was first named by Xiao-Chun Wu in 1981 and the type species is Xilousuchus sapingensis. Wu (1981) referred Xilousuchus to the Proterosuchia. Gower and Sennikov (1996) found it to be an erythrosuchian based strictly on the braincase. A more detailed re-description of the genus was provided by Nesbitt et al. (2010) and found poposauroid affinities. In his massive revision of archosaurs which included a large cladistic analysis, Sterling J. Nesbitt (2011) found Xilousuchus to be a poposauroid which is most closely related to Arizonasaurus. Xilousuchus is the oldest archosaur to date, although Ctenosauriscus and Vytshegdosuchus might be even older by less than one million year. Since Xilousuchus is a suchian archosaur, its early age suggests that most of the major groups of archosaurs developed by the Early Triassic, soon after the appearance of the first archosaur.

Bystrowisuchus is an extinct genus of ctenosauriscid pseudosuchian archosaur from the Early Triassic of European Russia. Fossils have been found in the Olenekian-age Lipovskaya Formation in Ilovlinsky District. The type species is Bystrowisuchus flerovi.

The Solling Formation is a geologic formation in Germany. Formerly considered earliest Triassic (Induan), but later dating places the formation from the Olenekian to Anisian of the Triassic period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Röt Formation</span>

The Röt Formation or Rötton Formation, or Upper Buntsandstein, is a geologic formation of the Buntsandstein in Germany. It preserves fossils dating back to the Middle Triassic Epoch. The formation overlies the Plattenstein and Solling Formations and is overlain by the Jena Formation.

<i>Incertovenator</i> Extinct genus of probable archosaur

Incertovenator is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile, likely an archosaur, of uncertain affinities. Its unstable position is a result of possessing a number features found in both the bird-line avemetatarsalian archosaurs and the crocodylian-line pseudosuchians. The type and only known species is I. longicollum, which is known from single specimen discovered in the Late Triassic Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina. Incertovenator is known almost entirely by its vertebral column. This indicates that it had a relatively long neck, leading to its uncertain classification due to the convergent evolution of elongated neck vertebrae in both avemetatarsalian and pseudosuchian archosaurs.

Scolotosuchus is an extinct genus of rauisuchid from the Early Triassic of Russia. The only known species, Scolotosuchus basileus, has been discovered at the Donskaya Luka Locality. It differs from all other rauisuchids in the morphology of its spine, which allowed it to both resist great stress and gave it a great range of mobility. Additionally, it may have lacked osteoderms, with its spine instead being supported in a similar manner as in dinosaurs. At 3 m (9.8 ft) it was likely the apex predator of its ecosystem.

Schultzsuchus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian from the Triassic Santa Maria Formation of Brazil. Initially described as a species of Prestosuchus, a 2024 study found the taxon to differ in multiple aspects of its anatomy, enough to warrant it being placed in a distinct genus. Unlike Prestosuchus, which is a more derived member of Loricata, Schultzsuchus appears to have been a basal member of the clade Poposauroidea.

References

  1. Friedrich von Huene (1902). "Übersicht über die Reptilien der Trias [Review of the Reptilia of the Triassic]. Geologische und Paläontologische Abhandlungen (Neue Serie)". Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena. 6: 1–84.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Richard J. Butler; Stephen L. Brusatte; Mike Reich; Sterling J. Nesbitt; Rainer R. Schoch; Jahn J. Hornung (2011). "The sail-backed reptile Ctenosauriscus from the latest Early Triassic of Germany and the timing and biogeography of the early archosaur radiation". PLOS ONE. 6 (10): e25693. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...625693B. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025693 . PMC   3194824 . PMID   22022431.
  3. Oskar Kuhn (1964). "Ungelöste Probleme der Stammesgeschichte der Amphibien und Reptilien". Jahreshefte des Vereins für vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg. 118–119: 293–325.
  4. Ebel, K.; Falkenstein, F.; Haderer, F.-O.; Wild, R. (1998). "Ctenosauriscus koeneni (v. Huene) und der Rauisuchier von Waldshut - Biomechanische Deutung der Wirbelsäule und Beziehungen zu Chirotherium sickleri Kaup". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, Serie B (Geologie und Paläontologie). 261: 1–18.