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Ornithosuchus
''Ornithosuchus'' (meaning "bird crocodile") is an extinct genus of pseudosuchians from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland. It was originally thought to be the ancestor to the carnosaurian dinosaurs (such as ''Allosaurus''). However, it is now known to be more closely related to crocodilians than to dinosaurs. Description Despite this relationship to crocodiles, ''Ornithosuchus'' was able to walk on its hind legs, like many dinosaurs. However, it probably spent most of its time on all fours, only moving bipedally when it needed to run rapidly. Its skull also resembled those of theropod dinosaurs, but more primitive features included the presence of five toes on each foot and a double row of armoured plates along the animal's back. ''Ornithosuchus'' has traditionally been estimated at a length of about around . Classification A single species of ''Ornithosuchus'' is recognized, ''O. woodwardi''. ''Ornithosuchus taylori'' is a synonym.M. Belén von ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hortalotarsus
''Hortalotarsus'' (etymology uncertain; probably " tarsus of a young bird"?) is a dubious genus of extinct sauropodomorph from Early Jurassic rocks of South Africa. Discovery and naming The type species, ''Hortalotarsus skirtopodus'' was named by Harry Seeley in 1894, initially as a species of ''Thecodontosaurus''. According to Robert Broom (1911), "Originally most of the skeleton was in the rock, and it was regarded by the farmers as the skeleton of a Bushman, but it is said to have been destroyed through fear that a Bushman skeleton in the rock might tend to weaken the religious belief of the rising generation." Seeley however, states that most of the skeleton was lost by a failed attempt to free it from the rock by using gunpowder. Some partial leg bones were salvaged. ''Hortalotarsus'' was subsequently regarded as either a synonym of ''Massospondylus'' or a valid genus belonging to Anchisauridae. Galton and Cluver (1976) as well as Galton and Upchurch (2004), however, design ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrinaxodon BW
''Thrinaxodon'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts, most commonly regarded by its species ''T. liorhinus'' which lived in what are now South Africa and Antarctica during the Early Triassic. ''Thrinaxodon'' lived just after the Permian–Triassic mass extinction event, its survival during the extinction may have been due to its burrowing habits. Similar to other therapsids, ''Thrinaxodon'' adopted a semi-sprawling posture, an intermediary form between the sprawling position of basal tetrapods (still observed modern Crocodilia) and the more upright posture present in current mammals.Blob R. 2001. Evolution of hindlimb posture in non-mammalian therapsids: biomechanical tests of paleontological hypotheses. 27(1): 14-38. ''Thrinaxodon'' is prevalent in the fossil record in part because it was one of the few carnivores of its time, and was of a larger size than similar cynodont carnivores. Description ''Thrinaxodon'' was a small synapsid roughly the size of a fox and possibly covered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cynodont
The cynodonts () ( clade Cynodontia) are a clade of eutheriodont therapsids that first appeared in the Late Permian (approximately 260 mya), and extensively diversified after the Permian–Triassic extinction event. Cynodonts had a wide variety of lifestyles, including carnivory and herbivory. Mammals are cynodonts, as are their extinct ancestors and close relatives, having evolved from advanced probainognathian cynodonts during the Late Triassic. All other cynodont lines went extinct, with the last known non-mammalian cynodont group, the Tritylodontidae, having its youngest records in the Early Cretaceous. Description Early cynodonts have many of the skeletal characteristics of mammals. The teeth were fully differentiated and the braincase bulged at the back of the head. Outside of some crown-group mammals (notably the therians), all cynodonts probably laid eggs. The temporal fenestrae were much larger than those of their ancestors, and the widening of the zygomatic ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thrinaxodon
''Thrinaxodon'' is an extinct genus of cynodonts, most commonly regarded by its species ''T. liorhinus'' which lived in what are now South Africa and Antarctica during the Early Triassic. ''Thrinaxodon'' lived just after the Permian–Triassic mass extinction event, its survival during the extinction may have been due to its burrowing habits. Similar to other therapsids, ''Thrinaxodon'' adopted a semi-sprawling posture, an intermediary form between the sprawling position of basal tetrapods (still observed modern Crocodilia) and the more upright posture present in current mammals.Blob R. 2001. Evolution of hindlimb posture in non-mammalian therapsids: biomechanical tests of paleontological hypotheses. 27(1): 14-38. ''Thrinaxodon'' is prevalent in the fossil record in part because it was one of the few carnivores of its time, and was of a larger size than similar cynodont carnivores. Description ''Thrinaxodon'' was a small synapsid roughly the size of a fox and possibly covered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campylognathoides
''Campylognathoides'' ("curved jaw", Strand 1928) is an extinct genus of pterosaur discovered in the Württemberg Lias deposits (dated to the early Toarcian ageBarrett, P. M., Butler, R. J., Edwards, N. P., & Milner, A. R. (2008). "Pterosaur distribution in time and space: an atlas". ''Zitteliana'', 61–107/ref>) of Germany; this first specimen however, consisted only of wing fragments. Further better preserved specimens were found in the Holzmaden shale; based on these specimens, Felix Plieninger erected a new genus. Discovery In 1858 Friedrich August Quenstedt named a new species of ''Pterodactylus'': ''P. liasicus''. It was based on a fossil, holotype GPIT 9533, consisting of some wing bones, found on the Wittberg near Metzingen in layers dating from the early Toarcian, about 180 million years old. The specific name referred to the Lias. Quenstedt thought he had identified long metacarpals in the wing, concluding that the new species was therefore not belonging to more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cymatosaurus
''Cymatosaurus'' is an extinct genus of pistosauroid or nothosauriform sauropterygian. It is known to have been alive from the Early Triassic to the Middle Triassic period (latest Olenekian to Anisian stages) of Germany and they seem to originate from the Netherlands.Sander, P.M., Klein, N., Albers, P.C.H. et al. Paläontol Z (2014) 88: 55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-013-0181-5 See also * Timeline of plesiosaur research This timeline of plesiosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, taxonomic revisions, and cultural portrayals of plesiosaurs, an order of marine reptiles that flourished d ... References Fossil taxa described in 1894 Early Triassic reptiles of Europe Pistosaurs Triassic sauropterygians Olenekian genus first appearances Anisian genus extinctions Middle Triassic reptiles of Europe Anisian life Sauropterygian genera {{triassic-reptile-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Massospondylus
''Massospondylus'' ( ; from Greek, (massōn, "longer") and (spondylos, "vertebra")) is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic. (Hettangian to Pliensbachian ages, ca. 200–183 million years ago). It was described by Sir Richard Owen in 1854 from remains discovered in South Africa, and is thus one of the first dinosaurs to have been named. Fossils have since been found at other locations in South Africa, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe. Material from Arizona's Kayenta Formation, India, and Argentina has been assigned to the genus at various times, but the Arizonan and Argentinian material are now assigned to other genera. The type species is ''M. carinatus''; seven other species have been named during the past 150 years, but only ''M. kaalae'' is still considered valid. Early sauropodomorph systematics have undergone numerous revisions during the last several years, and many scientists disagree where exactly ''Massospondylus'' lies on the dinosaur evolutiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinemurian
In the geologic timescale, the Sinemurian is an age and stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic Epoch or Series. It spans the time between 199.3 ± 2 Ma and 190.8 ± 1.5 Ma (million years ago). The Sinemurian is preceded by the Hettangian and is followed by the Pliensbachian. In Europe the Sinemurian age, together with the Hettangian age, saw the deposition of the lower Lias, in Great Britain known as the Blue Lias. Stratigraphic definitions The Sinemurian Stage was defined and introduced into scientific literature by French palaeontologist Alcide d'Orbigny in 1842. It takes its name from the French town of Semur-en-Auxois, near Dijon. The calcareous soil formed from the Jurassic limestone of the region is in part responsible for the character of the classic Sancerre wines. The base of the Sinemurian Stage is at the first appearance of the ammonite genera '' Vermiceras'' and ''Metophioceras'' in the stratigraphic record. A global reference profile ( GSSP or golden s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hettangian
The Hettangian is the earliest age and lowest stage of the Jurassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 201.3 ± 0.2 Ma and 199.3 ± 0.3 Ma (million years ago). The Hettangian follows the Rhaetian (part of the Triassic Period) and is followed by the Sinemurian. In European stratigraphy the Hettangian is a part of the time span in which the Lias was deposited. An example is the British Blue Lias, which has an upper Rhaetian to Sinemurian age. Another example is the lower Lias from the Northern Limestone Alps where well-preserved but very rare ammonites, including Alsatites, have been found. Stratigraphic definitions The Hettangian was introduced in the literature by Swiss palaeontologist, Eugène Renevier, in 1864. The stage takes its name from Hettange-Grande, a town in north-eastern France, just south of the border with Luxembourg on the main road from Luxembourg City to Metz. The base of the Hettangian Stage (which is also the base of the Low ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Govier Seeley
Harry Govier Seeley (18 February 1839 – 8 January 1909) was a British paleontologist. Early life Seeley was born in London on 18 February 1839, the second son of Richard Hovill Seeley, a goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. When his father was declared bankrupt, Seeley was sent to live with a family of piano makers. Between the ages of eleven and fourteen, he went to a day school and then spent the next two years learning to make pianos. He also attended lectures at the Royal School of Mines by Thomas Henry Huxley, Edward Forbes, and other notable scientists. In 1855, with the support of his uncle, Seeley began to study law but shortly gave it up to pursue a career as an actuary. In the late 1850s, he studied English and mathematics at the Working Men's College and served as a secretary for the college's museum. He also worked in the library of the British Museum, where Samuel Pickworth Woodward encouraged him to study geology. In 1859, Seeley began studies at Sidney Su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dryosaurus NT
''Dryosaurus'' ( , meaning 'tree lizard', Greek ' () meaning 'tree, oak' and () meaning 'lizard'; the name reflects the forested habitat, not a vague oak-leaf shape of its cheek teeth as is sometimes assumed) is a genus of an ornithopod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic period. It was an iguanodont (formerly classified as a hypsilophodont). Fossils have been found in the western United States and were first discovered in the late 19th century. '' Valdosaurus canaliculatus'' and '' Dysalotosaurus lettowvorbecki'' were both formerly considered to represent species of ''Dryosaurus''. Description Based on known specimens, they had been estimated to have reached up to long and to have weighed up to . However, as no known adult specimens of the genus have been found, the adult size remains unknown. In 2018, the largest specimen (CM 1949) was concluded to be from another species; revising the identity of this specimen put the previous research on size and growth into question. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
