Bystrowiella

Last updated

Contents

Bystrowiella
Temporal range: Middle Triassic, Ladinian
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Bystrowiella-schumanni.jpg
Bystrowiella schumanni
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Chroniosuchia
Family: Bystrowianidae
Genus: Bystrowiella
Witzmann, Schoch & Maisch, 2008
Species
  • B. schumanni Witzmann, Schoch & Maisch, 2008 (type)

Bystrowiella is an extinct genus of bystrowianid chroniosuchians from upper Middle Triassic (Ladinian age) deposits of Kupferzell and Vellberg, northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. [1]

Discovery and naming

It was first named by Florian Witzmann, Rainer R. Schoch and Michael W. Maisch in 2008, from a complete osteoderm fused with tip of neural spine (SMNS 91034, the holotype), partial osteoderms (SMNS 91036, 91037) and vertebrae (SMNS 81698, 81871–81874, 81876, 81877, 81879). The type species is Bystrowiella schumanni. The genus is named in honour of Dr. Alexey Bystrow, a Russian paleontologist and the species in honour of Schumann family. Bystrowiellas closest relative was Synesuchus . [1]

B. schumanni is the first bystrowianid identified outside Russia and China. [2]

Description

Bystrowiella is known by cranial and postcranial material. The premaxilla has an edentulous crest lateral to the choana; the premaxillary teeth are of different sizes, the jugal has a noticeably long and narrow anterior process; the postparietals and tabulars are enlarged and form facets for connection with the anteriormost osteoderm. Prefrontal and postfrontal parts are not in contact, a typical charasteristic of chroniosuchids. However, the antorbital fenestra and the internarial fontanelle are absent, a feature not common to chroniosuchids. The postcranial skeleton is similar to that of amniotes. The interclavicle is thin, with a distinct parasternal process; the humerus is narrow, with a short supinator process; trunk ribs are long and curved, with thin shaft without additional protrusions; the rib heads are widely spaced. [2]

Phylogeny

Is was assigned to bystrowianids due to the characteristics of the vertebrae and osteoderms. [2] Below is a cladogram after Novikov (2018) showing internal relationships of bystrowianids based on differences in their osteoderms: [3]

Bystrowianidae

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dissorophidae</span> Extinct family of temnospondyls

Dissorophidae is an extinct family of medium-sized temnospondyls that flourished during the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods. The clade is known almost exclusively from North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temnospondyli</span> Ancestors of modern amphibians adapted to life on land

Temnospondyli or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered primitive amphibians—that flourished worldwide during the Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic periods, with fossils being found on every continent. A few species continued into the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods, but all had gone extinct by the Late Cretaceous. During about 210 million years of evolutionary history, they adapted to a wide range of habitats, including freshwater, terrestrial, and even coastal marine environments. Their life history is well understood, with fossils known from the larval stage, metamorphosis and maturity. Most temnospondyls were semiaquatic, although some were almost fully terrestrial, returning to the water only to breed. These temnospondyls were some of the first vertebrates fully adapted to life on land. Although temnospondyls are amphibians, many had characteristics such as scales and armour-like bony plates that distinguish them from the modern soft-bodied lissamphibians.

<i>Mastodonsaurus</i> Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Mastodonsaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic of Europe. It belongs to a Triassic group of temnospondyls called Capitosauria, characterized by their large body size and presumably aquatic lifestyles. Mastodonsaurus remains one of the largest amphibians known, and may have exceeded 6 meters in length.

<i>Batrachotomus</i> Genus of reptiles

Batrachotomus is a genus of prehistoric archosaur. Fossils of this animal have been found in southern Germany and dated from the Ladinian stage of the Middle Triassic period, around 242 to 237 million years ago. Batrachotomus was described by palaeontologist David J. Gower 22 years after its discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chroniosuchidae</span> Extinct family of tetrapodomorphs

Chroniosuchidae is a family of semi-aquatic tetrapods found in sediments from the upper Permian and the upper Triassic periods, most in Russia. They were generally rather large animals, with long jaws similar to those found in modern crocodiles, and probably lived a similar lifestyle as riverside piscivores and ambush predators. Like all chroniosuchians, they bore extensive osteoderm armour on their backs, possibly as protection against terrestrial predators such as the Permian therapsids and the Triassic rauisuchians.

<i>Chroniosuchus</i> Extinct genus of tetrapods

Chroniosuchus is an extinct genus of chroniosuchid from the upper Permian period. The genus was first named by Vjuschkov in 1957.

<i>Bystrowiana</i> Extinct genus of tetrapodomorphs

Bystrowiana is an extinct genus of bystrowianid chroniosuchian from upper Permian deposits of Vladimir Region, Russia and Jiyuan, China. Chroniosuchians are often thought to be reptiliomorphs, but some recent phylogenetic analyses suggest instead that they are stem-tetrapods. The genus is named in honour of the Russian paleontologist Alexey Bystrow. It was first described by Vyushkov in 1957 and the type species is Bystrowiana permira. Two species—B. permira and B. sinica—are known.

<i>Eocyclotosaurus</i> Extinct genus of temnospondyls

Eocyclotosaurus is an extinct genus of mastodonsauroid temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic (Anisian). The name Eocyclotosaurus means "dawn round-eared lizard". It is characterized as a capitosauroid with a long and slender snout, closed otic fenestra, and small orbits. It measured over one metre and had a 22 cm skull.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trematosauridae</span> Extinct family of temnospondyls

Trematosauridae is a family of large marine temnospondyls with several included genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chroniosuchia</span> Extinct order of tetrapods

Chroniosuchia is a group of tetrapods that lived from the Middle Permian to Late Triassic in what is now Eastern Europe, Kyrgyzstan, China and Germany. Chroniosuchians are often thought to be reptiliomorphs, but some recent phylogenetic analyses suggest instead that they are stem-tetrapods. They were all rather short limbed with a strong tail and elongated snout, somewhat resembling modern crocodiles. The group is traditionally considered to be a suborder or order of labyrinthodonts. Chroniosuchians likely had ecological niches as riverside predators, and may have been outcompeted by semiaquatic true reptiles such as phytosaurs in the late Triassic. Most forms bore a heavy armour of scutes along the back, possibly for protection against land born predators like therapsids, or to strengthen the axial skeleton for terrestrial locomotion. Indeed, femoral microanatomy of Chroniosaurus suggests that it was amphibious to terrestrial.

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

Plagiosuchus is an extinct genus of plagiosaurid temnospondyl. It is known from several collections from the Middle Triassic of Germany.

<i>Madygenerpeton</i> Extinct genus of tetrapodomorphs

Madygenerpeton is an extinct genus of chroniosuchid reptiliomorph from the Late Triassic Madygen Formation of Kyrgyzstan. It was first named by paleontologists Rainer R. Schoch, Sebastian Voigt and Michael Buchwitz in 2010 from a nearly complete skull and associated osteoderms. The type species is M. pustulatus.

<i>Axitectum</i> Extinct genus of tetrapodomorphs

Axitectum is an extinct genus of bystrowianid chroniosuchians from lower Triassic deposits of Nizhni Novgorod and Kirov Regions, Russia. It was a rather large animal judging by the size of its vertebrae. The back was covered in bands of highly ornamented osteoderm plates, similar to those found in modern crocodiles. The bands overlapped with the next band at the posterior end.

Synesuchus is an extinct genus of bystrowianid chroniosuchians from middle Triassic deposits of Komi Republic, northern Fore-Ural of Russia. It is known from the holotype PIN 4466/12, which consists of armor scute and from the referred materials PIN 4466/10, 4466/11, 4466/13 and 4466/14. It was found in the Nadkrasnokamenskaya Formation of the Bukobay Horizon. It was first named by I.V. Novikov and M.A. Shishkin in 2000 and the type species is Synesuchus muravjevi. The generic name comes from Syne, from Bolshaya Synya river, and “crocodile”, and the specific name honors the Russian geologist Ivan Stepanovich Murav'ev.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bystrowianidae</span> Extinct family of tetrapodomorphs

Bystrowianidae is a family of chroniosuchian tetrapods from the Permian and Triassic periods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erfurt Formation</span>

The Erfurt Formation, also known as the Lower Keuper, is a stratigraphic formation of the Keuper group and the Germanic Trias supergroup. It was deposited during the Ladinian stage of the Triassic period. It lies above the Upper Muschelkalk and below the Middle Keuper.

Jaxtasuchus is an extinct genus of armored doswelliid archosauriform reptile known from the Middle Triassic of the Erfurt Formation in Germany. The type species, Jaxtasuchus salomoni, was named in 2013 on the basis of several incomplete skeletons and other isolated remains. Like other doswelliids, members of the genus were heavily armored, with four longitudinal rows of bony plates called osteoderms covering the body. Jaxtasuchus is the first doswelliid known from Europe and is most closely related to Doswellia from the Late Triassic of the eastern United States. However, it was not as specialized as Doswellia, retaining several generalized archosauriform characteristics and having less armor. Jaxtasuchus fossils have been found in aquatic mudstones alongside fossils of temnospondyl amphibians, crustaceans, and mollusks, suggesting that Jaxtasuchus was semiaquatic like modern crocodilians.

<i>Laosuchus</i> Extinct genus of tetrapods

Laosuchus is an extinct genus of chroniosuchian known from the Permian-Triassic boundary of Asia. Two species have been named.

This list of fossil amphibians described in 2018 is a list of new taxa of fossil amphibians that were described during the year 2018, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to amphibian paleontology that occurred in 2018.

Hassiacoscutum is an extinct genus of bystrowianid chroniosuchian found in the Korbach Fissure of the Werra Formation in Hesse, Germany.

References

  1. 1 2 Florian Witzmann; Rainer R. Schoch & Michael W. Maisch (2008). "A relict basal tetrapod from Germany: first evidence of a Triassic chroniosuchian outside Russia". Naturwissenschaften. 95 (1): 67–72. Bibcode:2008NW.....95...67W. doi:10.1007/s00114-007-0291-6. PMID   17653527. S2CID   8161364.
  2. 1 2 3 Florian Witzmann, Rainer R. Schoch (2017). "Skull and postcranium of the bystrowianid Bystrowiella schumanni from the Middle Triassic of Germany, and the position of chroniosuchians within Tetrapoda". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 16 (3): 711-739. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1336579.
  3. Novikov A.V. (2018). Early Triassic amphibians of Eastern Europe: evolution of dominant groups and peculiarities of changing communities (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: RAS. p. 162. ISBN   978-5-906906-71-7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2024-04-06.