Hypselorhachis Temporal range: Middle Triassic | |
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Holotype | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauria |
Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
Clade: | Paracrocodylomorpha |
Clade: | † Poposauroidea |
Family: | † Ctenosauriscidae |
Genus: | † Hypselorhachis Butler et al., 2009 |
Species | |
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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.
The type species is H. mirabilis, mentioned but never fully described by English paleontologist Alan J. Charig. Hypselorhachis was assigned to the Ctenosauriscidae, a group of sail-backed archosaurs, in 1988. [1] It was formally described by Richard J. Butler and co-workers in 2009. [2] The name means 'wonderful high spine', from the Latin 'mirabilis' 'wonderful' and the Greek 'ὑπσελος', 'high' and 'ῥαχις' 'spine' or 'backbone'. Hypselorhachis was probably at least 3 metres long, maybe up to 4 or 5 metres, as the vertebra is certainly from quite a large animal.
Hypselorhachis is known from a single anterior dorsal vertebra found from the Lifua Member of the Manda Beds, which is thought to have been deposited during the Anisian stage. The only characteristic that diagnoses the genus is a feature seen in the prezygapophysis - a small part of the bone projects dorsally. Because of the lack of any other material, comparisons between it and other early archosaurs can only be based on features seen in the vertebra, making any current phylogenetic classification tentative. Because the neural spine of the holotype is elongate, being over five times the height of the centrum, Hypselorhachis may be a ctenosauriscid. The neural spine is around 305 mm high, or possibly greater than this as some of the end may be missing, while the centrum is only around 60 mm high even at its tallest points. As is visible on the picture, the centrum has deeply concave lower, left and right surfaces. Other ctenosauriscids such as Arizonasaurus and Ctenosauriscus possessed characteristically large sails that were formed from elongate neural spines, and the shape of the neural spine is also similar. In Hypselorhachis, as in the ctenosauriscids mentioned, the neural spine is wider at the distal end than at the proximal end, and if, as seems certain, it did have a full sail the sail would have been quite tough due to mostly being transversely compressed bone with little space in between. The neural arch is very solid and quite compact, and the neural canal rather thin, so the spinal cord would have been relatively well protected. [2]
Other features of the vertebra include multiple fossae or pits around the neural canal, especially just above it on the posterior side of the vertebra. These were present in many archosaurs and archosauromorphs, such as saurischian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, Erythrosuchus, Postosuchus and Arizonasaurus. The fact that Hypselorhachis shares them with Arizonasaurus may also be further evidence of its being closely related - although on their own they were so common that they would not suggest this, the presence of both the deep fossae and the high neural spine resembling that of Arizonasaurus is strong evidence to suggest that Hypselorhachis was indeed a ctenosauriscid, or at least a relative of the main ctenosauriscid group. [2]
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.
Nyasasaurus is an extinct genus of avemetatarsalian archosaur from the putatively Middle Triassic Manda Formation of Tanzania that may be the earliest known dinosaur. The type species Nyasasaurus parringtoni was first described in 1956 in the doctoral thesis of English paleontologist Alan J. Charig, but it was not formally described until 2013.
Teleocrater is a genus of avemetatarsalian archosaur from the Middle Triassic Manda Formation of Tanzania. The name was coined by English paleontologist Alan Charig in his 1956 doctoral dissertation, but was only formally published in 2017 by Sterling Nesbitt and colleagues. The genus contains the type and only species T. rhadinus. Uncertainty over the affinities of Teleocrater have persisted since Charig's initial publication; they were not resolved until Nesbitt et al. performed a phylogenetic analysis. They found that Teleocrater is most closely related to the similarly enigmatic Yarasuchus, Dongusuchus, and Spondylosoma in a group that was named the Aphanosauria. Aphanosauria was found to be the sister group of the Ornithodira, the group containing dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
Calyptosuchus is an extinct genus of aetosaur from the Late Triassic of North America. Like other aetosaurs, it was heavily armored and had a pig-like snout used to uproot plants.
Lotosaurus is an extinct genus of sail-backed poposauroid known from Hunan Province of central China.
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.
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.
Qianosuchus is an extinct genus of aquatic poposauroid archosaur from the middle Triassic (Anisian) Guanling Formation of Pan County, China. It is represented by two nearly complete skeletons and a crushed skull preserved in the limestone. Qianosuchus was at least 3 metres long, and had several skeletal adaptations which indicate a semi-marine lifestyle, similar to modern-day saltwater crocodiles. These adaptations have not been seen in any other archosaur from the Triassic.
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.
Hupehsuchia is an order of diapsid reptiles closely related to ichthyosaurs. The group was short-lasting, with a temporal range restricted to the late Olenekian age, spanning only a few million years of the Early Triassic. The order gets its name from Hubei Province, China, from which many specimens have been found. They are probable members of the clade Ichthyosauromorpha.
Mandasuchus is an extinct genus of loricatan pseudosuchian from the Manda Formation of Tanzania, which dates back to the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic. Although this genus was first mentioned by Alan Charig in 1956, a formal description was not published until 2018.
Polonosuchus is a genus of rauisuchid known from the late Triassic of Poland. It was a huge predator about 5–6 metres in length and, like all rauisuchians, was equipped with a large head of long sharp teeth. The legs were placed almost underneath the body, unlike most reptiles, which would have made it quite fast and a powerful runner. The appearance was very similar to that of the more known Postosuchus, of North America, and shared with the latter the ecological niche of the apex predator.
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.
Ichthyovenator is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Laos, sometime between 120 and 113 million years ago, during the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous period. It is known from fossils collected from the Grès supérieurs Formation of the Savannakhet Basin, the first of which were found in 2010, consisting of a partial skeleton without the skull or limbs. This specimen became the holotype of the new genus and species Ichthyovenator laosensis, and was described by palaeontologist Ronan Allain and colleagues in 2012. The generic name, meaning "fish hunter", refers to its assumed piscivorous lifestyle, while the specific name alludes to the country of Laos. In 2014, it was announced that more remains from the dig site had been recovered; these fossils included teeth, more vertebrae (backbones) and a pubic bone from the same individual.
The Manda Formation is a Middle Triassic (Anisian?) or possibly Late Triassic (Carnian?) geologic formation in Tanzania. It preserves fossils of many terrestrial vertebrates from the Triassic, including some of the earliest dinosauromorph archosaurs. The formation is often considered to be Anisian in age according to general tetrapod biochronology hypotheses and correlations to the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of South Africa. However, some recent studies cast doubt to this age, suggesting that parts deposits may actually be younger (Carnian) in age.
Nundasuchus is an extinct genus of crurotarsan, possibly a suchian archosaur related to Paracrocodylomorpha. Remains of this genus are known from the Middle Triassic Manda beds of southwestern Tanzania. It contains a single species, Nundasuchus songeaensis, known from a single partially complete skeleton, including vertebrae, limb elements, osteoderms, and skull fragments.
Scutarx is an extinct genus of Aetosauriformes, most commonly regarded by its species name Scutarx deltatylus. Scutarx lived around 230 million years ago during the Carnian and Norian stage of the Late Triassic. Scutarx are “medium sized” paramedian osteoderms belonging to the clade Aetosauria, a heavily armored and more herbivorous cousin of crocodiles.
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.