Dorosuchus Temporal range: Middle Triassic | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
Clade: | Archosauriformes |
Family: | † Euparkeriidae (?) |
Genus: | † Dorosuchus Sennikov, 1989 |
Type species | |
†Dorosuchus neoetus Sennikov, 1989 |
Dorosuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform previously assigned to the family Euparkeriidae. It lived during the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic. Fossil material is known from Sol-Iletsk in Orenburg Oblast, Russia. [1] The type species is D. neoetus, named in 1989. [2]
Dorosuchus was considered to be a relative of euparkeriid Euparkeria based on the features of the limbs and pelvic girdle. Most specimens are known from a single block of siltstone from a location known as the Berdyanka I locality by Berdyanka River. Limb and hip elements, sacral and caudal vertebrae, and a braincase are preserved in the block and represent four individuals. A partial ilium is known from another locality. [1]
Dorosuchus was initially classified as a euparkeriid in 1989 with its first description. [2] The family Euparkeriidae is best represented by the genus Euparkeria from the Early Triassic of South Africa. Several other genera in the past have been assigned to the family, including Turfanosuchus , Halazhaisuchus , and Wangisuchus . However, most of these genera have been excluded from the family on the basis of anatomical features such as those found in the ankle (e.g. Turfanosuchus and Wangisuchus) or are known from specimens that are too poorly preserved to offer many features that could include them within the family (e.g. Halazbaisuchus and Wangisuchus). Doubts have also been raised about the assignment of Dorosuchus to the family Euparkeriidae because of a lack of defining characteristics. [1] Nevertheless, a 2009 paper describing the anatomy of Osmolskina, the euparkeriid classification of Dorosuchus was reaffirmed. [3] However, a 2016 review of Euparkeriidae recovered Dorosuchus in a polytomy with Euparkeriidae, Archosauria, and Phytosauria. [4]
Euparkeria is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile from the Triassic of South Africa. Euparkeria is close to the ancestry of Archosauria, the reptile group that includes crocodilians, pterosaurs, and dinosaurs.
Proterosuchidae is an early family of basal archosauriforms whose fossils are known from the Late Permian and the Early Triassic. The highest diversity of genera is known from European Russia, but fossils are also known from South Africa, India, China, Australia, Brazil and possibly Argentina. The name comes from Greek πρότερο- ("first") and σοῦχος ("crocodile").
Mesosuchus is an extinct genus of basal Rhynchosaur from early Middle Triassic deposits of Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is known from the holotype SAM 5882, a partial skeleton, and from the paratypes SAM 6046, SAM 6536, SAM 7416 and SAM 7701 from the Aliwal North Euparkeria site. Mesosuchus is quite small, spanning around 30 cm in length. Mesosuchus was discovered and named by David Meredith Seares Watson in 1912.
Turfanosuchus is a genus of archosauriform reptile, likely a gracilisuchid archosaur, which lived during the Middle Triassic (Anisian) of northwestern China. The type species, T. dabanensis, was described by C.C. Young in 1973, based on a partially complete but disarticulated fossil skeleton found in the Kelamayi Formation of the Turfan Basin.
Euparkeriidae is an extinct family of small carnivorous archosauriforms which lived from the Early Triassic to the Middle Triassic (Anisian). While most other early archosauriforms walked on four limbs, euparkeriids were probably facultative bipeds that had the ability to walk on their hind limbs at times. The most well known member of Euparkeriidae is the species Euparkeria capensis, which was named by paleontologist Robert Broom from the Karoo Basin of South Africa in 1913 and is known from several nearly complete skeletons. The family name was first proposed by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1920; Huene classified euparkeriids as members of Pseudosuchia, a traditional name for crocodilian-line archosaurs from the Triassic. However, phylogenetic analyses performed in the 21st century place Euparkeriidae as a group of Archosauriformes, a position outside Pseudosuchia and close to the ancestry of both crocodile-line archosaurs and bird-line archosaurs. However, they are probably not direct ancestors of archosaurs.
Osmolskina is a genus of archosauriform reptile which lived during the Early Triassic in what is now Poland. The type species, Osmolskina czatkowicensis, was described by Magdalena Borsuk−Białynicka and Susan Evans in 2003. The generic name honors the late female Polish paleontologist Halszka Osmólska.
Archosaurus is an extinct genus of carnivorous proterosuchid archosauriform reptile. Its fossils are dated to the latest Permian of Russia and Poland, it is one of the earliest known archosauriforms. The type and only species is Archosaurus rossicus, known from several fragmentary specimens which cumulatively represent parts of the skull and cervical vertebrae. It would have been 3 metres (9.8 ft) long when fully grown.
Sarmatosuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile found in sediments of Middle Triassic age and known from the single species Sarmatosuchus otschevi. It is one of the earliest stem-archosaur species known. The holotype and only specimen was found in lithified river deposits of the Donguz Formation exposed near the Berdyanka River, Orenburg region, Russia. The genus was originally included in the extinct family Proterosuchidae. However, later analysis by David Gower and Andrei Sennikov, the describing author, has removed it from the Proterosuchidae and designated it a basal archosauriform.
Dongusuchus is an extinct genus of archosaur. Fossils have been found from the Donguz Formation outcropping on the banks of the Donguz River in the Orenburg Oblast of Russia. They are associated with a fossil assemblage called the Eryosuchus Fauna, named after the capitosaurid Eryosuchus, the most common organism found from the assemblage. The locality dates back to the Anisian and early Ladinian stages of the Middle Triassic.
Vancleavea is a genus of extinct, armoured, non-archosaurian archosauriforms from the Late Triassic of western North America. The type and only known species is V. campi, named by Robert Long & Phillip A Murry in 1995. At that time, the genus was only known from fragmentary bones including osteoderms and vertebrae. However, since then many more fossils have been found, including a pair of nearly complete skeletons discovered in 2002. These finds have shown that members of the genus were bizarre semiaquatic reptiles. Vancleavea individuals had short snouts with large, fang-like teeth, and long bodies with small limbs. They were completely covered with bony plates known as osteoderms, which came in several different varieties distributed around the body. Phylogenetic analyses by professional paleontologists have shown that Vancleavea was an archosauriform, part of the lineage of reptiles that would lead to archosaurs such as dinosaurs and crocodilians. Vancleavea lacks certain traits which are present in most other archosauriforms, most notably the antorbital, mandibular and supratemporal fenestrae, which are weight-saving holes in the skulls of other taxa. However, other features clearly support its archosauriform identity, including a lack of intercentra, the presence of osteoderms, an ossified laterosphenoid, and several adaptations of the femur and ankle bones. In 2016, a new genus of archosauriform, Litorosuchus, was described. This genus resembled both Vancleavea and more typical archosauriforms in different respects, allowing Litorosuchus to act as a transitional fossil linking Vancleavea to less aberrant archosauriforms.
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.
Vjushkovisaurus is an extinct genus of Middle Triassic archosauriform. It is known from the Anisian-aged Donguz Gorizont in Sol-Iletsk, Orenburg Oblast, Russia. The genus was named in 1982, with the type species being V. berdjanensis. Material has been collected in the Berdyanka II locality from a fossil assemblage called the Eryosuchus Fauna along the Berdyanka River, specifically in a sand-carbonate concretion in the upper part of the main river channel. Vjushkovisaurus is known only from the holotype PIN 2865/62, a partial postcranial skeleton which consists of 12 presacral vertebrae, left humerus, ribs, a fragment of the coracoid and a fragment of the fibula.
Koilamasuchus is an extinct genus of indeterminate archosauriform from the Triassic of Argentina. It is based on an external mold of a partial postcranial skeleton from the Quebrada de los Fósiles Formation. Due to its incomplete nature, the relationships of this reptile are difficult to establish. Originally described as a non-archosaur archosauriform, later studies tentatively considered it a doswelliid or a suchian archosaur.
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.
Youngosuchus is an extinct genus of archosaur from the Middle Triassic of China. The type species is Y. sinensis. Y. sinensis was first described in 1973 as a new species of the erythrosuchid Vjushkovia. In 1985, it was reassigned as its own genus of rauisuchid. A 1992 study supported the original classification of Youngosuchus sinensis as an erythrosuchid, but more recent studies classify it as a "rauisuchian"-grade loricatan archosaur completely unrelated to Vjushkovia, which is most likely a synonym of Garjainia.
Halazhaisuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform from the Early Triassic of China. It is known from a single species, Halazhaisuchus qiaoensis, which was named in 1982 from the lower Ermaying Formation in Shaanxi. It was assigned to the family Euparkeriidae as a close relative of the genus Euparkeria from South Africa. Halazhaisuchus is known from a single holotype specimen called V6027, which was discovered in 1977 and includes a portion of the vertebral column, some ribs, two scapulae and two humeri, the right radius and ulna, and a left coracoid. Two rows of plate-like bones called osteoderms run along the length of the vertebrae. When it was first described in 1982, Halazhaisuchus was considered a close relative of Euparkeria because it has primitive features like small intercentra bones between the vertebrae and a large coracoid, not seen in later archosaurs. However, these features are common to many early archosauriforms and are not unique to Euparkeriidae.
Wangisuchus is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile from the Middle Triassic of China that is known from fragmentary fossil jaw bones. These bones were found at the Hsishihwa locality in the upper Ermaying Formation, which dates to the late Anisian stage about 242 million years ago. Wangisuchus was named in 1964 by Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian, who described a single species, Wangisuchus tzeyii, on the basis of these bones.
Eorasaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptile known from the middle Late Permian of Tatarstan, European Russia. It contains a single species, Eorasaurus olsoni. When originally described by Sennikov (1997), Eorasaurus was identified as an early archosauromorph and assigned to the family Protorosauridae, Ezcurra et al. (2014) and Ezcurra (2016) later reclassified Eorasaurus and placed it within the group Archosauriformes. Eorasaurus is based solely on scant fossil material from the neck region, and is thus considered an unstable taxon in phylogenetic analyses. If Eorasaurus is an archosauriform, it would be the oldest known member of the group and would pre-date the previous record holder.
Asperoris is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile known from the Middle Triassic Manda Beds of southwestern Tanzania. It is the first archosauriform known from the Manda Beds that is not an archosaur. However, its relationships with other non-archosaurian archosauriforms are uncertain. It was first named by Sterling J. Nesbitt, Richard J. Butler and David J. Gower in 2013 and the type species is Asperoris mnyama. Asperoris means "rough face" in Latin, referring to the distinctive rough texture of its skull bones.
Polymorphodon is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile from the Middle Triassic of Germany. The only known species is Polymorphodon adorfi, discovered in Lower Keuper deposits at a quarry in Eschenau, Germany. Polymorphodon is notable for its heterodont dentition, with long and conical premaxillary teeth followed by thin maxillary teeth with large serrations. Maxillary teeth near the back of the mouth are short and leaf-shaped, similar to some living and extinct reptiles with a herbivorous or omnivorous diet. This may suggest that Polymorphodon had some reliance on plants in its diet, a rarity among basal archosauriforms, most of which are carnivores.