Paratypothorax | |
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Type specimen SMNS 5721 on display | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Clade: | Archosauria |
Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
Order: | † Aetosauria |
Family: | † Stagonolepididae |
Tribe: | † Paratypothoracini |
Genus: | † Paratypothorax Long and Ballew, 1985 |
Type species | |
†Paratypothorax andressi Long and Ballew, 1985 | |
Species | |
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Paratypothorax is an extinct genus of aetosaur, known from a single species, Paratypothorax andressorum. It was a broadly distributed member of the group found in Germany, North America, and possibly parts of Gondwana. The best specimens come from Germany, though for more than a century they were mistakenly considered phytosaur armor. Paratypothorax was a large and wide-bodied typothoracine aetosaur, as well as the namesake of the tribe Paratypothoracisini. [1]
Paratypothorax was first known from specimens collected from the Heslach area near Stuttgart in Germany. These hail from the Stubensandstein (also known as the Löwenstein Formation), a mid-Norian age geological unit. Heslach has also produced many fossils of a smaller aetosaur, Aetosaurus . The holotype specimen of Paratypothorax, SMNS 5721, consists of a series of articulated osteoderms alongside a few hip and leg bones. Large osteoderms of Paratypothorax were long misidentified as phytosaur armor, and referred to Belodon . Among this formerly misidentified material is SMNS 19003, a fossil unearthed in 1945 from the Schlipf Quarry near Murrhardt. Further preparation revealed that SMNS 19003 was a complete skeleton with a well-preserved skull and fully articulated carapace. [1] Paratypothorax was first recognized as an aetosaur in 1953, and was named as a new genus in 1985. [2] [3]
In 1992, Paratypothorax fossils were first identified in the Chinle Group of the southwestern United States. It has been found in the Sonsela Member of Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, as well as the Bluewater Creek Formation of western New Mexico. It is also common in strata of the Dockum Group further in eastern New Mexico and Texas. [2] [4] Osteoderms of Paratypothorax have also been reported from the Norian-age Fleming Fjord Formation in Greenland, [5] the Zarzaitine Series of Algeria, and an unverified occurrence in India. [6]
Paratypothorax possesses paramedian scutes that are wide, strap-like, and have grooves and pits on them forming radial patterns. Like other typothoracisines such as Typothorax , the lateral scutes bear large horns that are posteriorly hooked. [7] The rear of each scute is overlapped by a prominent knob. [8]
Gojirasaurus is a genus of "coelophysoid" theropod dinosaur from the Late Triassic of New Mexico. It is named after the giant monster movie character Godzilla, and contains a single species, Gojirasaurus quayi.
Aetosaurs are heavily armored reptiles belonging to the extinct order Aetosauria. They were medium- to large-sized omnivorous or herbivorous pseudosuchians, part of the branch of archosaurs more closely related to crocodilians than to birds and other dinosaurs. All known aetosaurs are restricted to the Late Triassic, and in some strata from this time they are among the most abundant fossil vertebrates. They have small heads, upturned snouts, erect limbs, and a body ornamented with four rows of plate-like osteoderms. Aetosaur fossil remains are known from Europe, North and South America, parts of Africa, and India. Since their armoured plates are often preserved and are abundant in certain localities, aetosaurs serve as important Late Triassic tetrapod index fossils. Many aetosaurs had wide geographic ranges, but their stratigraphic ranges were relatively short. Therefore, the presence of particular aetosaurs can accurately date a site in which they are found.
Aetosaurus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian reptile belonging to the order Aetosauria. It is generally considered to be the most primitive aetosaur. Three species are currently recognized: A. ferratus, the type species from Germany and Italy; A. crassicauda from Germany; and A. arcuatus from eastern North America. Additional specimens referred to Aetosaurus have been found in the Chinle Group of the southwestern United States, and the Fleming Fjord Formation of Greenland. Specimens of Aetosaurus occur in Norian-age strata.
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.
Acaenasuchus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian, endemic to what would be presently be known as Arizona during the Late Triassic, specifically during the Carnian and Norian stages of the Triassic. Acaenasuchus had a stratigraphic range of approximately 11.5 million years. Acaenasuchus is further categorized as one of the type fauna that belong to the Adamanian LVF, based on the fauna of the Blue Mesa Member of the Chinle Petrified Forest Formation of Arizona, where Acaenasuchus was initially discovered.
Aetosauroides is an extinct genus of aetosaur from the Late Triassic of South America. It is one of four aetosaurs known from South America, the others being Neoaetosauroides, Chilenosuchus and Aetobarbakinoides. Three species have been named: the type species A. scagliai, A. subsulcatus and A. inhamandensis. Fossils have been found in the Cancha de Bochas Member of the Ischigualasto Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina and the Santa Maria Formation in the Paraná Basin in southeastern Brazil. The strata date to the late Carnian and early Norian stages, making Aetosauroides one of the oldest aetosaurs.
Redondasaurus is an extinct genus or subgenus of phytosaur from the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States. It was named by Hunt & Lucas in 1993, and contains two species, R. gregorii and R. bermani. It is the youngest and most evolutionarily-advanced of the phytosaurs.
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.
The Cooper Canyon Formation is a geological formation of Norian age in Texas. It is one of several formations encompassed by the Dockum Group.
Coahomasuchus is an extinct genus of aetosaurine aetosaur. Remains of the genus have been found from deposits in Texas and North Carolina that date to the Otischalkian faunachron of the Late Triassic. It was small for an aetosaur, being less than 1.5 metres long. The dorsal plates are distinctively flat and unflexed, and have a faint sub-parallel to radial ornamentation. The genus lacked spines or keels on these plates, features seen in many other aetosaurs. Coahomasuchus was very similar in appearance to the closely related Aetosaurus.
Lucasuchus is an extinct genus of aetosaur. Fossils have been found from the Bull Canyon Formation of the Dockum Group outcropping in the Revuelto Creek locality in Quay County, New Mexico. All specimens date back to the Norian stage of the Late Triassic. The genus was named in 1995 after the American paleontologist Spencer G. Lucas.
Tecovasuchus is an extinct genus of aetosaur. It is known primarily from osteoderms found from the Tecovas Formation in Texas, which is Late Triassic in age, dating back to the lower Norian. Material is also known from several other localities of the Chinle Group in New Mexico and Arizona, such as older Carnian outcrops and younger Rhaetian outcrops. Specimens of Tecovasuchus have been collected from the Tecovas Formation, the Bluewater Creek Formation, and the Los Esteros Member of the Santa Rosa Formation.
Aetosaurinae is one of the two main clades of aetosaurs, the other being Desmatosuchia. It is a stem-based taxon defined as all aetosaurs more closely related to Aetosaurus than Desmatosuchus. Aetosaurinae currently comprises Aetosaurus, similar forms such as Coahomasuchus and Stenomyti, and the widespread and successful aetosaur clade Typothoracinae.
Redondasuchus is an extinct genus of aetosaur. It may be a junior synonym of Typothorax coccinarum, another aetosaur. Redondasuchus is a member of the clade Typothoracisinae within the subfamily Aetosaurinae, and lived during the middle Norian stage of the Late Triassic. Material belonging to the genus has been found from the Redonda Formation in east-central New Mexico. The type species, R. reseri, was named in 1991 after having been referred to as a species of Typothorax since 1985. A second species, R. rineharti, was described in 2006.
The Bull Canyon Formation is a geological formation of Late Triassic (Norian) age in eastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle. It is one of several formations encompassed by the Dockum Group.
The Colorado City Formation is a Late Triassic geologic formation in the Dockum Group of Texas, United States. It has previously been known as the Iatan Member, Colorado City Member or 'Pre-Tecovas Horizon'.
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.
Kryphioparma is an extinct genus of aetosaur from the Late Triassic Blue Mesa Member of the Chinle Formation, Arizona. It is the oldest known member of the subfamily Typothoracinae, and is currently only known from five isolated and incomplete dorsal osteoderms. Regardless, said osteoderms show a clear mix of features that do not match any other known aetosaur and were thus used as the basis for a new genus and species in 2023. The genus is monotypic, only including a single species, Kryphioparma caerula.
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