Deltasaurus pustulatus

Last updated

Deltasaurus pustulatus
Temporal range: Triassic
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order:† Temnospondyli
Suborder:† Stereospondyli
Family:† Rhytidosteidae
Genus:† Deltasaurus
Species:
†D. pustulatus
Binomial name
†Deltasaurus pustulatus
Cosgriff, 1965 [1]

Deltasaurus pustulatus is an amphibian fossil species of the family Rhytidosteidae. The temnospondyl hunted invertebrates and fish during the late stage Triassic epoch, and somewhat resembles the only other species of the eastern Gondwanan genus Deltasaurus . The only known evidence of the species was discovered in a drill core in Southwest Australia, near Geraldton, a seemingly improbable event that produced the only known example of Triassic vertebrate fauna in the ecologically exceptional region's Kockatea Formation.

Contents

Taxonomy

The description of Deltasaurus pustulatus was published in 1965 by John W. Cosgriff, recognised as a second species of a new genus. [2] The type species, described in the same study, was found at Blina Shale in the northwest of Australia, whereas this species described fossil material obtained from the Kockatea Formation in the southwest of the continent, near Geraldton, Western Australia. [1] [3] The type locality of D. pustulatus is named Beagle Ridge Bore, where the partial remains of a skull with its impression were extracted in a 86 mm core sample of grey-green shale. [1]

Description

A species of Deltasaurus , distinguished by the bone structure and longer, narrower skull from D. kimberleyensis, the type and only other known species of the genus. [1] The skull length of the specimen was approximately 110 millimetres. The diet is assumed to be small invertebrates and fish species. [3]

The type material, the right side of a skull, [4] appears to be a section of a more complete fossil and that an edge of that section was lost in the process of returning the well drilling core to the surface; the impression of the lost material remains on facing surface of the broken core. The grey-green shale of the extracted sample is otherwise uniform in its composition. [1]

Distribution

The species is only temnospondyl to have been identified at the Kockatea shale. The fine grey shale where the skull was located is likely to be a marine deposition, and there is a high degree of certainty that the remains were washed in from a terrestrial habitat at a nearby location. [5]

The collection of vertebrate fossils in drill cores is a rare event, but greater than the earlier expectations of finds—which had been close to zero—by workers in the field of palaeontology. The depth of the sample that produced the species type and only fossil material was between 797 and 800 metres, revealed during an examination of a drill core made in a state survey of mineral resources. [4]

Related Research Articles

Deltasaurus kimberleyensis was a temnospondyl amphibian of the family Rhytidosteidae that existed during the Carnian stage of the Triassic. The fossilised remains were discovered in the Blina Shale formation in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia in 1965.

<i>Cherninia</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Cherninia is an extinct genus of mastodonsaurid temnospondyl. The type species, Cherninia denwai, is known from the Denwa Formation of India. It is based on a massive skull, ISI A 54, which was originally considered a species of Parotosuchus in 1998 before being given its own genus in 2001.

<i>Deltasaurus</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Deltasaurus is an extinct genus of Carnian temnospondyl amphibian of the family Rhytidosteidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydekkerinidae</span> Extinct family of amphibians

Lydekkerinidae is a family of stereospondyl temnospondyls that lived in the Early Triassic period. During this time period, lydekkerinids were widely distributed, with putative remains reported from Russia, Greenland, India, South Africa, Madagascar, Australia, and Antarctica. In contrast to most other stereospondyls, lydekkerinids were relatively small-bodied. The type genus is Lydekkerina, the namesake of the family and the best-known lydekkerinid.

<i>Microposaurus</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Microposaurus is an extinct genus of trematosaurid temnospondyl. Fossils are known from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group in South Africa and the Rouse Hill Siltstone of Australia that date back to the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic. These aquatic creatures were the short snouted lineage from Trematosaurinae.

Rhytidosteoidea is a superfamily of Temnospondyli, early amphibian species that existed during the Carboniferous, Permian, and Triassic periods. The taxon was established in 1965 to accommodate two new species of Deltasaurus, the author recognising an alliance with previously described genera.

<i>Acroplous</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Acroplous is an extinct genus of dvinosaurian Temnospondyli within the family Eobrachyopidae.

Bothriceps is an extinct genus of stereospondyl temnospondyl. It is a member of the infraorder Trematosauria and is the most basal brachyopomorph known. It is one of the only brachyopomorph that lies outside the superfamily Brachyopoidea, which includes the families Brachyopidae and Chigutisauridae. It shares several similarities to Keratobrachyops, another basal brachyopomorph, and may be closely related to or even synonymous with it.

Blinasaurus is a name of an extinct genus of prehistoric brachyopid found in Triassic geological formations of Australia. The type species is Platyceps wilkinsonii Stephens, 1887. The genus was established by John W. Cosgriff in 1969 to incorporate the type, discovered in New South Wales, and the author's new fossil species, Blinasaurus henwoodi, describing type material found in Blina Shale in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia.

<i>Cryobatrachus</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

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. 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.

Chomatobatrachus is a genus of prehistoric temnospondyl from the Triassic.

Erythrobatrachus is an extinct genus of trematosaurian temnospondyl within the family Trematosauridae. The sole species Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis was separated to a monotypic genus, distinguishing it from related taxa when the description was published in 1972. The type material was a matrix cast revealing the impression of several fragments of skull excavated at the Blina Shale formation in the northwest of the Australian continent. The genus name is derived from ancient Greek, combining terms for red, erythro, with frog, batrachos, to describe the iron staining of the fossilised amphibian specimens. The type location described by the specific epithet was Noonkanbah Station.

Notobrachyops is a genus of brachyopid temnospondyl amphibian. It is known from a skull roof impression found in the Ashfield Shale of Mortdale, New South Wales, Australia. The Ashfield Shale has also yielded a shark species, a lungfish species, six species of paleoniscid fish, a species of holostean fish, a subholostean fish, and the labyrinthodont amphibian Paracyclotosaurus davidi.

<i>Lydekkerina</i> Extinct genus of amphibians from the early Triassic

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.

Rotaurisaurus is an extinct genus of amphibian-grade tetrapod from the family Lapillopsidae. This genus is known only from an incomplete crushed skull and associated left jaw, together given the designation UTGD 87795. The generic name, Rotaurisaurus, is a combination of Latin words translating to "circle-eared lizard". This references the shape of its otic notches, which acquire a circular form due to being partially enclosed by the tabular bones at the back of the skull. The specific name, contundo, references the specimen's poor level of preservation, as it is derived from the Latin word for "squashed".

Wellesaurus is an extinct genus of mastodonsauroid temnospondyl. They were amphibious carnivores that lived in freshwater environments.

<i>Stanocephalosaurus</i> Extinct genus of amphibians

Stanocephalosaurus is an extinct genus of large-sized temnospondyl amphibians living through the early to mid Triassic. The etymology of its name most likely came from its long narrow skull when compared to other temnospondyls. Stanocephalosaurus lived an aquatic lifestyle, with some species even living in salt lakes. There are currently three recognized species and another that needs further material to establish its legitimacy. The three known species are Stanocephalosaurus pronus from the Middle Triassic in Tanzania, Stanocephalosaurus amenasensis from the Lower Triassic in Algeria, and Stanocephalosaurus birdi, from the middle Triassic in Arizona. Stanocephalosaurus rajareddyi from the Middle Triassic in central India needs further evidence in order to establish its relationship among other Stanocephalosaurs. Like other temnospondyls, Stanocephalosaurus was an aquatic carnivore. Evidence of multiple species discovered in a wide range of localities proves that Stanocephalosaurus were present all across Pangea throughout the early to mid Triassic.

<i>Vigilius</i> (amphibian) Extinct genus of amphibians

Vigilius is an extinct genus of brachyopid temnospondyl amphibian from the Triassic of Arizona. It is known from the single type species Vigilius wellesi.

Latiscopus disjunctus is a small Late Triassic temnospondyl collected in 1940 by a Works Projects Administration crew working near Otis Chalk, Texas that was described by John Wilson in 1948.

Blina Shale is a fossil bearing geological formation located in the Kimberley region of Northwest Australia. The location is rich in deposits of vertebrate material, and the site of previously unknown Triassic species. Flora and invertebrate species have also been identified in the deposits, including microplankton and microflora.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cosgriff, J.W. (1965). "A new genus of Temnospondyli from the Triassic of-Western Australia". Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 48: 65–90.
  2. ↑ "Fossilworks: Deltasaurus pustulatus". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 Kear, B.P.; Hamilton-Bruce, R.J., eds. (2011). Dinosaurs in Australia: Mesozoic Life from the Southern Continent. CSIRO Publishing. p. 48. ISBN   9780643102316.
  4. 1 2 Chure, D.J.; Engelmann, G.F. (1 January 2016). "Fossil vertebrates in drill cores, a rare but surprisingly diverse record". Fossil Record. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. 5 (74): 51–59.
  5. ↑ Cosgriff, J.W. (1974). "Stratigraphic correlations in Australia". In Easton, James (ed.). Lower Triassic Temnospondyli of Tasmania. Geological Society of America. p. 89. ISBN   9780813721491.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.