Ebrachosuchus

Last updated

Ebrachosuchus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, 231–228  Ma
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Ebrachosuchus neukami.JPG
Ebrachosuchus neukami
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Phytosauria
Genus: Ebrachosuchus
Kuhn, 1936
Type species
Ebrachosuchus neukami
Kuhn, 1936
Synonyms

Ebrachosuchus is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic (late Carnian stage) of Bavaria, southern Germany. It is known only from the holotype BSPG 1931 X 501, a complete skull missing both mandibles. It was collected at Ebrach Quarry, bed number 9 from the late Carnian-aged Blasensandstein Member of the Hassberge Formation. It was first named by Oskar Kuhn in 1936 and the type species is Ebrachosuchus neukami. [1]

Recontruction of Ebrachosuchus (left) Ebrachosuchus (left).jpg
Recontruction of Ebrachosuchus (left)

Hunt and Lucas (1991) mistakenly referred to Francosuchus angustifrons as Ebrachosuchus angustifrons, and considered it and the other two Francosuchus species, F. broilii and F. latus , to be synonyms of E. neukami. Furthermore, they reassigned the species to Paleorhinus , and synonymized Ebrachosuchus with the former. [2] Subsequent researches accepted this referral. More recently, a phylogenetic analysis found E. neukami to be more closely related to Mystriosuchinae than to Paleorhinus and thus the genus Ebrachosuchus was re-validated, while F. angustifrons was reassigned as P. angustifrons as it shares unique synapomorphies with the type species of Paleorhinus (P. bransoni) and was found to be its sister taxon. F. broilii and F. latus were also removed from E. neukami, as they were found to be nomina dubia. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Chiniquodon</i> Extinct genus of cynodonts

Chiniquodon is an extinct genus of carnivorous cynodonts, which lived during the Late Triassic (Carnian) in South America and Africa. Chiniquodon was closely related to the genus Aleodon, and close to the ancestry of mammals.

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

Revueltosaurus is an extinct genus of suchian pseudosuchian from Late Triassic deposits of New Mexico, Arizona and North Carolina, United States. Many specimens, mostly teeth, have been assigned to Revueltosaurus over the years. Currently, three species are included in this genus, all of which were originally thought to represent monospecific genera of basal ornithischian dinosaurs. It was 1 meter long.

Spinosuchus is an extinct genus of trilophosaurid allokotosaur from the Late Triassic of Texas, southern United States. It has been assigned to a variety of groups over its history, from coelophysid dinosaur to pseudosuchian to uncertain theropod dinosaur and to Proterosuchidae. This uncertainty is not unusual, given that it was only known from a poorly preserved, wall-mounted, partial vertebral column of an animal that lived in a time of diverse, poorly known reptile groups. However, newly collected material and recent phylogenetic studies of early archosauromorphs suggest that it represents an advanced trilophosaurid very closely related to Trilophosaurus.

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

Paleorhinus is an extinct genus of widespread basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic. The genus was named in 1904 based on the type species Paleorhinus bransoni, which is known from Wyoming and Texas in the United States. Another valid species, Paleorhinus angustifrons from Bavaria, Germany, is also commonly referred to the genus. Paleorhinus had a length of about 2.5 meters.

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

Parasuchus is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India. At its most restricted definition, Parasuchus contains a single species, Parasuchus hislopi. Parasuchus hislopi is one of several species belonging to a basal grade of phytosaurs, typified by the genus Paleorhinus. Historically, Paleorhinus has been known from better-described fossils, and many species have been lumped into that genus. Parasuchus hislopi, despite being described earlier than Paleorhinus, was considered an undiagnostic chimera until new neotype fossils were described in the late 1970s. Parasuchus hislopi and the two unambiguously valid species of Paleorhinus are all closely related; some authors have historically described them all under the species Paleorhinus, while others place the two Paleorhinus species into Parasuchus according to the principle of priority.

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

Cyclotosaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl within the family Mastodonsauridae. It was of great size for an amphibian, had an elongated skull up to 56 cm (22 in).

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

Angistorhinus is an extinct genus of phytosaur known from the Late Triassic period of Texas and Wyoming, United States. It was first named by Mehl in 1913 and the type species is Angistorhinus grandis. Other species from Texas and Wyoming, A. alticephalus, A. gracilis and A. maximus, are cospecific with the type species. Angistorhinus is known from the holotype UC 631, partial skull and lower jaws recovered from the Popo Agie Formation, Chugwater Group, Wyoming and from the associated paratype UM 531, a partial skull, TMM 31098-1, skull and lower jaws and ROM 7977, partial skull and lower jaws, recovered from the 'Pre-Tecovas Horizon' in the Dockum Group, Texas. A possible second species, A. talainti is known from the Triassic of Morocco. In 1995, Long and Murry created the new combination, Angistorhinus megalodon by synonymy for Brachysuchus. Hungerbühler and Sues (2001) hypothesised that Angistorhinus is a junior synonym of Rutiodon. However, in 2010 Michelle R. Stocker retained the validity of Brachysuchus and of A. grandis.

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

Typothorax is an extinct genus of typothoracine aetosaur that lived in the Late Triassic. Its remains have been found in North America. Two species are known: T. coccinarum, the type species, and T. antiquum.

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

Pelorocephalus is an extinct genus of chigutisaurid temnospondyls from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Cacheutá Formation of the Cuyo Basin and the Ischigualasto Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin, both in northwestern Argentina. Three species are currently recognized: the type species P. mendozensis, which was named in 1944, P. tenax, which was named in 1949 as a species of Chigutisaurus and reassigned to Pelorocephalus in 1999, and P. cacheutensis, which was named in 1953 as another species of Chigutisaurus and reassigned to Pelorocephalus along with P. tenax. A fourth species, P. ischigualastensis, was named in 1975 after the formation it was found in. The species P. tunuyanensis was named in 1948 but has since been synonymized with P. mendozensis. The largest individuals are estimated to have been over 107 centimetres (42 in) in length, with a skull width of around 55 centimetres.

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

Dyoplax is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian archosaur, possibly an erpetosuchid. Fossils have been found from the type locality within the upper Schilfsandstein Formation in Stuttgart, Germany. The holotype specimen was a natural cast of a nearly complete skeleton that lacked only parts of the tail and limb bones.

Ebrachosaurus is an extinct genus of aetosaur. It was named after the town of Ebrach, Germany, near an outcrop of the Blasensandstein Formation where the original fossils have been found. Other Blasensandstein fauna include the temnospondyl Metoposaurus and the phytosaur Francosuchus. The genus has often been considered synonymous with the closely related Stagonolepis. The holotype specimen was lost during World War II, so its relationships within Stagonolepididae remain indeterminant.

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

Machaeroprosopus is an extinct genus of mystriosuchin leptosuchomorph phytosaur from the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States. M. validus, once thought to be the type species of Machaeroprosopus, was named in 1916 on the basis of three complete skulls from Chinle Formation, Arizona. The skulls have been lost since the 1950s, and a line drawing in the original 1916 description is the only visual record of the specimen. Another species, M. andersoni, was named in 1922 from New Mexico, and the species M. adamanensis, M. gregorii, M. lithodendrorum, M. tenuis, and M. zunii were named in 1930. Most species have been reassigned to the genera Smilosuchus, Rutiodon, or Phytosaurus. Until recently, M. validus was considered to be the only species that has not been reassigned. Thus, Machaeroprosopus was considered to be a nomen dubium or "doubtful name" because of the lack of diagnostic specimens that can support its distinction from other phytosaur genera. However, a taxonomic revision of Machaeroprosopus, conducted by Parker et al. in 2013, revealed that UW 3807, the holotype of M. validus, is not the holotype of Machaeroprosopus, while the species Machaeroprosopus buceros, Machaeroprosopus being a replacement name, with a fixed type species, for Metarhinus, is the combinatio nova of the type species of the genu: Belodon buceros. Therefore, the name Pseudopalatus must be considered a junior synonym of Machaeroprosopus, and all species of the former must be reassigned to the latter. This revised taxonomy was already accepted in several studies, including Stocker and Butler (2013). Stocker and Butler (2013) also treated M. andersoni as a valid species, and not a junior synonym of Machaeroprosopus buceros as was previously suggested by Long and Murry (1995).

Francosuchus is a dubious genus of probably basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic of Bavaria, southern Germany. It was named by Oskar Kuhn in 1933 and the type species is Francosuchus broilii. In the same article Kuhn also named a second species Francosuchus latus. Both species were known solely from their holotypes, two partial skulls that were housed at the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontogy and Geology. Both specimens were collected at Ebrach Quarry, bed number 13 from the late Carnian-aged Blasensandstein Member of the Hassberge Formation. As the holotypes were destroyed during World War II and poorly documented, Francosuchus and its species are usually considered to be nomina dubia.

Mesorhinosuchus is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur possibly known from the Early Triassic of Saxony-Anhalt, central-eastern Germany. It was first named by Otto Jaekel in 1910 and the type species is Mesorhinus fraasi. The generic name Mesorhinus was preoccupied by Mesorhinus piramydatus Ameghino, 1885, a macraucheniid mammal, which is now considered to be a junior synonym of Oxyodontherium. Thus, an alternative generic name, Mesorhinosuchus, was proposed by Oskar Kuhn in 1961. The genus is occasionally misspelled as Mesorhinosaurus, while Stocker and Butler (2013) recently misspelled its original generic name as Mesosuchus.

Scalenodon is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts from the Middle Triassic of Africa and possibly Russia. The type species S. angustifrons was named in 1946 and several other species were named in the following years. Most of the species from Africa are now thought to belong to different genera than Scalenodon.

Dolerosaurus is an extinct genus of diapsid known from the early Late Triassic upper Lunz Formation of Austria. Dolerosaurus was first named by Richard J. Butler in 2013 and the type species is Francosuchus trauthi.

Mandagomphodon is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts from the Middle Triassic Lifua Member of the Manda Beds of Ruhuhu Valley, Tanzania. The type species Mandagomphodon hirschsoni was named by Crompton in 1972 as a species referable to Scalenodon. Later studies, including a 2003 phylogenetic analysis of traversodontid relationships, did not find the species of Scalenodon from the Manda Formation to form a single clade, meaning that many were not referable to the genus. The study suggested that S. hirschsoni had more in common with other traversodontids like Luangwa. S. attridgei was viewed as a possible synonym of S. charigi, which was also found to be only distantly related to S. angustifrons. Therefore, a new generic name Mandagomphodon was erected for S. hirschsoni by James A. Hopson in 2013.

Wannia is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur reptile known from the Late Triassic of Texas, southern United States. It contains a single species, Wannia scurriensis, which is known from a single specimen. This species was originally named as a species referred to Paleorhinus and later was considered as a possible junior synonym of Paleorhinus bransoni. However its re-description revealed five autapomorphies, and a phylogenetic position as the most basal known phytosaur, justifying the erection of a new generic name for the species.

The Hassberge Formation is a geologic formation in Bavaria, Germany. It preserves fossils dating back to the Carnian stage of the Triassic period.

Land vertebrate faunachrons (LVFs) are biochronological units used to correlate and date terrestrial sediments and fossils based on their tetrapod faunas. First formulated on a global scale by Spencer G. Lucas in 1998, LVFs are primarily used within the Triassic Period, though Lucas later designated LVFs for other periods as well. Eight worldwide LVFs are defined for the Triassic. The first two earliest Triassic LVFs, the Lootsbergian and Nonesian, are based on South African synapsids and faunal assemblage zones estimated to correspond to the Early Triassic. These are followed by the Perovkan and Berdyankian, based on temnospondyl amphibians and Russian assemblages estimated to be from the Middle Triassic. The youngest four Triassic LVFs, the Otischalkian, Adamanian, Revueltian, and Apachean, are based on aetosaur and phytosaur reptiles common in the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States.

References

  1. Kuhn, O. (1936). Weitere Parasuchier und Labyrinthodonten aus dem Blasensandstein des mittleren Keuper von Ebrach. Palaeontographica, Abteilung A, 83:61-98.
  2. Hunt, A. P., and Lucas, S. G. (1991). The Paleorhinus biochron and the correlation of the non-marine Upper Triassic of Pangaea. Palaeontology34(2):487-501.
  3. Stocker, M. R.; Butler, R. J. (2013). "Phytosauria". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 379 (1): 91–117. Bibcode:2013GSLSP.379...91S. doi:10.1144/SP379.5. S2CID   219192243.