Bystrowisuchus
''Bystrowisuchus'' is an extinct genus of ctenosauriscid pseudosuchian archosaur from the Early Triassic of European Russia. Fossils have been found in the Olenekian-age Lipovskaya Formation in Ilovlinsky District. The type species is ''Bystrowisuchus flerovi''. Description ''Bystrowisuchus flerovi'' is based on a holotype specimen including six cervical or neck vertebrae and a partial right ilium or hip bone. Its total body length is estimated at . Discovery The holotype specimen of ''Bystrowisuchus'' was found near the eastern banks of the Don River in Ilovlinsky District, Volgograd Oblast. It came from a fossil site known as the Donskaya Luka locality, which preserves a wide diversity of Early Triassic tetrapod fossils. Along with ''Bystrowisuchus'', the Donskaya Luka fossil assemblage includes temnospondyl amphibians, a chroniosuchian, a procolophonid, a sauropterygian, a protorosaurian, possible trilophosaurid archosauromorphs, two rauisuchid archosaurs, and a dicynodont ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ctenosauriscid
Ctenosauriscidae is an extinct family of pseudosuchian archosaurs within the clade Poposauroidea. Ctenosauriscids existed in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America during the Early Triassic to the Middle Triassic period (latest Olenekian to Anisian stages). All species had large "sails" on their backs. Ctenosauriscids are among some of the earliest archosaurs and represent the first global radiation of the group. Genera Phylogeny Ctenosauriscidae was named by Oskar Kuhn in 1964 to include the genus '' Ctenosauriscus''. It is a stem-based taxon defined by Richard J. Butler, Stephen L. Brusatte, Mike Reich, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Rainer R. Schoch and Jahn J. Hornung in 2011 as "the most inclusive clade containing ''Ctenosauriscus koeneni'' but not '' Poposaurus gracilis'', ''Effigia okeeffeae'', ''Postosuchus kirkpatricki'', ''Crocodylus niloticus'', ''Ornithosuchus longidens'', or ''Aetosaurus ferratus''". The cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ctenosauriscids
Ctenosauriscidae is an extinct family of pseudosuchian archosaurs within the clade Poposauroidea. Ctenosauriscids existed in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America during the Early Triassic to the Middle Triassic period (latest Olenekian to Anisian stages). All species had large "sails" on their backs. Ctenosauriscids are among some of the earliest archosaurs and represent the first global radiation of the group. Genera Phylogeny Ctenosauriscidae was named by Oskar Kuhn in 1964 to include the genus ''Ctenosauriscus''. It is a stem-based taxon defined by Richard J. Butler, Stephen L. Brusatte, Mike Reich, Sterling J. Nesbitt, Rainer R. Schoch and Jahn J. Hornung in 2011 as "the most inclusive clade containing ''Ctenosauriscus koeneni'' but not ''Poposaurus gracilis'', ''Effigia okeeffeae'', ''Postosuchus kirkpatricki'', ''Crocodylus niloticus'', '' Ornithosuchus longidens'', or '' Aetosaurus ferratus''". The cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramm ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Early Triassic
The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which is a unit in chronostratigraphy. The Early Triassic is the oldest epoch of the Mesozoic Era. It is preceded by the Lopingian Epoch (late Permian, Paleozoic Era) and followed by the Middle Triassic Epoch. The Early Triassic is divided into the Induan and Olenekian ages. The Induan is subdivided into the Griesbachian and Dienerian subages and the Olenekian is subdivided into the Smithian and Spathian subages. The Lower Triassic series is coeval with the Scythian Stage, which is today not included in the official timescales but can be found in older literature. In Europe, most of the Lower Triassic is composed of Buntsandstein, a lithostratigraphic unit of continental red beds. The Early Triassic and partly also the Middle Triassic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Procolophonid
Procolophonidae is an extinct family of small, lizard-like parareptiles known from the Late Permian to Late Triassic that were distributed across Pangaea, having been reported from Europe, North America, China, South Africa, South America, Antarctica and Australia. The most primitive procolophonids were likely insectiovous or omnivorous, more derived members of the clade developed bicusped molars, and were likely herbivorous feeding on high fiber vegetation or durophagous omnivores. Many members of the group are noted for spines projecting from the quadratojugal bone of the skull, which likely served a defensive purpose as well as possibly also for display. At least some taxa were likely fossorial burrowers. While diverse during the Early and Middle Triassic, they had very low diversity during the Late Triassic, and were extinct by the beginning of the Jurassic. Phylogeny Below is a cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a di ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Triassic Archosaurs
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period of the Mesozoic Era. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events. The Triassic Period is subdivided into three epochs: Early Triassic, Middle Triassic and Late Triassic. The Triassic began in the wake of the Permian–Triassic extinction event, which left the Earth's biosphere impoverished; it was well into the middle of the Triassic before life recovered its former diversity. Three categories of organisms can be distinguished in the Triassic record: survivors from the extinction event, new groups that flourished briefly, and other new groups that went on to dominate the Mesozoic Era. Reptiles, especially archosaurs, were the chief terrestrial vertebrates during this time. A specialized subgroup of archosau ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Scythosuchus Basileus
''Scythosuchus'' is an extinct genus of rauisuchid. Remains have been found from Olenekian-age Lower Triassic beds in Russia, hence the name meaning ' Scythian crocodile'. The type and only species is ''S. basileus'', described in 1999. ''Scythosuchus'' was between 2 and 3 metres long, and relatively heavily built. It is known from a partial skull, much of the spine, a fragment of the humerus and most of the hind leg and foot. It may have been the same animal as ''Tsylmosuchus''. Features Skull The skull material known is fragmentary, with a few parts of the cranium, the maxilla and some of the rostrum, and several examples of teeth. The maxilla is long, as is the preorbital fenestra just above it, and has a break indicating that there was probably a large medial process. The whole snout was slightly elongated but quite narrow. The blade-like teeth are laterally compressed and serrated, with a slight backwards curve, and would have been excellent for slicing through flesh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dicynodont
Dicynodontia is an extinct clade of anomodonts, an extinct type of non-mammalian therapsid. Dicynodonts were herbivorous animals with a pair of tusks, hence their name, which means 'two dog tooth'. Members of the group possessed a horny, typically toothless beak, unique amongst all synapsids. Dicynodonts first appeared in Southern Pangaea during the mid-Permian, ca. 270–260 million years ago, and became globally distributed and the dominant herbivorous animals in the Late Permian, ca. 260–252 Mya. They were devastated by the end-Permian Extinction that wiped out most other therapsids ca. 252 Mya. They rebounded during the Triassic but died out towards the end of that period. They were the most successful and diverse of the non-mammalian therapsids, with over 70 genera known, varying from rat-sized burrowers to elephant-sized browsers. Characteristics The dicynodont skull is highly specialised, light but strong, with the synapsid temporal openings at the rear of the sku ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rauisuchid
Rauisuchidae is a group of large (up to or more) predatory Triassic archosaurs. There is some disagreement over which genera should be included in Rauisuchidae and which should be in the related Prestosuchidae and Poposauridae, and indeed whether these should even be thought of as separate valid families. Rauisuchids occurred throughout much of the Triassic, and may have first occurred in the Early Triassic if some archosaurian taxa such as ''Scythosuchus'' and ''Tsylmosuchus'' are considered to be within the family. An early cladistic analysis of crocodylotarsan (pseudosuchian) archosaurs included ''Lotosaurus'', ''Fasolasuchus'', ''Rauisuchus'', and "the Kupferzell rauisuchid" (later called ''Batrachotomus'') within Rauisuchidae.Parrish JM. 1993. Phylogeny of the Crocodylotarsi, with reference to archosaurian and crurotarsan monophyly. ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 13: 287-308. However, a later study found that ''Batrachotomus'' was a more basal pseudosuchian only sli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Archosauromorph
Archosauromorpha ( Greek for "ruling lizard forms") is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all reptiles more closely related to archosaurs (such as crocodilians and dinosaurs, including birds) rather than lepidosaurs (such as tuataras, lizards, and snakes). Archosauromorphs first appeared during the late Middle Permian or Late Permian, though they became much more common and diverse during the Triassic period. Although Archosauromorpha was first named in 1946, its membership did not become well-established until the 1980s. Currently Archosauromorpha encompasses four main groups of reptiles: the stocky, herbivorous allokotosaurs and rhynchosaurs, the hugely diverse Archosauriformes, and a polyphyletic grouping of various long-necked reptiles including '' Protorosaurus'', tanystropheids, and '' Prolacerta''. Other groups including pantestudines ( turtles and their extinct relatives) and the semiaquatic choristoderes have also been placed in Archosauromorpha by some a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trilophosaurid
Trilophosaurs are lizard-like Triassic allokotosaur reptiles related to the archosaurs. The best known genus is '' Trilophosaurus'', a herbivore up to long. It had a short, unusually heavily built skull, equipped with massive, broad flattened cheek teeth with sharp shearing surfaces for cutting up tough plant material. Teeth are absent from the premaxilla and front of the lower jaw, which in life were probably equipped with a horny beak. The skull is also unusual in that the lower temporal opening is missing, giving the appearance of a euryapsid skull, and originally the Trilophosaurs were classified with placodonts and sauropterygia. Carroll (1988) suggests that the lower opening may have been lost to strengthen the skull. Trilophosaurs are so far known only from the Late Triassic of North America and Europe. Below is a cladogram showing the phylogenetic relationships of Trilophosauridae within Archosauromorpha Archosauromorpha ( Greek for "ruling lizard forms") is a c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Protorosauria
Protorosauria is an extinct polyphyletic group of archosauromorph reptiles from the latest Middle Permian (Capitanian stage) to the end of the Late Triassic (Rhaetian stage) of Asia, Europe and North America. It was named by the English anatomist and paleontologist Thomas Henry Huxley in 1871 as an order, originally to solely contain '' Protorosaurus''. Other names which were once considered equivalent to Protorosauria include Prolacertiformes and Prolacertilia. Protorosaurs are distinguished by their long necks formed by elongated cervical vertebrae, which have ribs that extend backward to the vertebrae behind them. Protorosaurs also have a gap between the quadrate bones and the jugal bones in the back of the skull near the jaw joint, making their skulls resemble those of lizards. While previously thought to be monophyletic, the group is now though to consist of various groups of basal archosauromorph reptiles that lie outside Crocopoda. Classification Protorosauria was cons ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sauropterygian
Sauropterygia ("lizard flippers") is an extinct taxon of diverse, aquatic reptiles that developed from terrestrial ancestors soon after the end-Permian extinction and flourished during the Triassic before all except for the Plesiosauria became extinct at the end of that period. The plesiosaurs would continue to diversify until the end of the Mesozoic. Sauropterygians are united by a radical adaptation of their pectoral girdle, adapted to support powerful flipper strokes. Some later sauropterygians, such as the pliosaurs, developed a similar mechanism in their pelvis. Uniquely among reptiles, sauropterygians moved their tail vertically like modern cetaceans and sirenians. Origins and evolution The earliest sauropterygians appeared about 247 million years ago (Ma), at the start of the Middle Triassic: the first definite sauropterygian with exact stratigraphic datum lies within the Spathian division of the Olenekian era in South China. Early examples were small (around 60&nbs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |