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Milleretta BW
''Milleretta'' is an extinct genus of millerettid parareptile from the Late Permian of South Africa. Fossils have been found in the Balfour Formation.Ruta, M., Cisneros, JC., Liebrecht, T., Tsuji, L. A. and Müller, J. 2011Amniotes through major biological crises: faunal turnover among Parareptiles and the end-Permian mass extinction ''Palaeontology'', 54: 1117–1137. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01051. ''Milleretta'' was a moderately sized, lizard-like animal, about in length. It was probably insectivorous. Its only known species is ''Milleretta rubidgei'', making ''Milleretta'' a monospecific genus.Gow, C.E. 1997A Note on the Postcranial Skeleton of Milleretta (Amniota: Parareptilia) 34,55–57 Discovery The name provided for this genus upon Robert Broom's original 1938 description was '' 'Millerina' '', but it was later renamed in 1947 when Broom discovered that the name '' 'Millerina' '' had already been used for a genus of fly. The new name, ''Milleretta,'' means 'Miller's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balfour Formation
The Balfour Formation is a geological formation that is found in the Beaufort Group, a major geological group that forms part of the greater Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. The Balfour Formation is the uppermost formation of the Adelaide Subgroup which contains all the Late Permian - Early Triassic aged biozones of the Beaufort Group. Outcrops and exposures of the Balfour Formation are found from east of 24 degrees in the highest mountainous escarpments between Beaufort West and Fraserburg, but most notably in the Winterberg and Sneeuberg mountain ranges near Cradock, the Baviaanskloof river valley, Graaff-Reniet and Nieu Bethesda in the Eastern Cape, and in the southern Free State province. Geology The Balfour Formation overlies the Middleton Formation of the Adelaide Subgroup and underlies the Katberg Formation of the lower Tarkastad Subgroup, all comprising the greater Beaufort Group. The Balfour Formation is composed of five members which are listed below (fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Changhsingian
In the geologic time scale, the Changhsingian or Changxingian is the latest age or uppermost stage of the Permian. It is also the upper or latest of two subdivisions of the Lopingian Epoch or Series. The Changhsingian lasted from to 251.9 Ma ago. It is preceded by the Wuchiapingian age/stage and is followed by the Induan age/stage (Early Triassic epoch). The greatest mass extinction in the Phanerozoic eon, the Permian–Triassic extinction event, occurred around the end of this age. Stratigraphic definitions The Changhsingian is named after Changxing () in northern Zhejiang, China. The stage was named for the Changhsing Limestone. The name was first used for a stage in 1970 and was anchored in the international timescale in 1981.. The base of the Changhsingian Stage is at the first appearance of the conodont species '' Clarkina wangi''. The global reference profile is profile D at Meishan, in the type area in Changxing, just below the Changhsingian foraminifer index fossi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macroleter Poezicus
''Macroleter'' is an extinct genus of nycteroleterid parareptile which existed in Oklahoma and Russia during the upper Permian period. It was a quite generalized primitive reptile, in many ways resembling their amphibian ancestors. It was first named by paleontologists Tverdochlebova and Ivachnenko in 1984. According to classification by Michel Laurin and Robert R. Reisz, the genus is a parareptile, belonging to the same branch as Millerettidae, Procolophonidae and other generalized anapsid reptiles. The type species is ''Macroleter poezicus'' from Upper Permian of Russia. ''Macroleter'' had an 8 cm skull, and an overall length of 75 cm. It was generally lizard-like in build with a rather flat and broad skull. The teeth were small and pointy, indication it predominantly hunted insects and other small invertebrates. ''Seymouria agilis'' (Olson, 1980) that is known from only one specimen (holotype UCMP 143 277) was originally thought to be a reptile-like amphibian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australothyris Smithi
''Australothyris'' is an extinct genus of basal procolophonomorph parareptile known from the Middle Permian (middle Capitanian stage) of ''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone, South Africa. The type and only known species is ''Australothyris smithi''. As the most basal member of Procolophonomorpha, ''Australothyris'' helped to contextualize the origin of this major parareptile subgroup. It has been used to support the hypotheses that procolophonomorphs originated in Gondwana and ancestrally possess temporal fenestrae, due to its large and fully enclosed temporal fenestra and South African heritage. It also possessed several unique features, including a high tooth number, long postfrontal, small interpterygoid vacuity, and a specialized interaction between the stapes and quadrate. Discovery Australothyris is known from a single specimen discovered at the Beukesplaas farm by Robert Smith in 1995. The fossil site at the Beukesplaas farm contains a diverse parareptile and synapsid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procolophonomorpha
Procolophonomorpha is an order containing most parareptiles. Many papers have applied various definitions to the name, though most of these definitions have since been considered synonymous with modern parareptile clades such as Ankyramorpha and Procolophonia. The current definition of Procolophonomorpha, as defined by Modesto, Scott, & Reisz (2009), is that of as a stem-based group containing '' Procolophon'' and all taxa more closely related to it than to '' Milleretta''. It constitutes a diverse assemblage that includes a number of lizard-like forms, as well as more diverse types such as the pareiasaurs. Lee 1995, 1996, 1997 argues that turtles evolved from pareiasaurs, but this view is no longer considered likely. Rieppel and deBraga 1996 and deBraga and Rieppel, 1997 argue that turtles evolved from sauropterygians, and there is both molecular and fossil (''Pappochelys'') evidence for the origin of turtles among diapsid reptiles. Classification The following cladogram is s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Millerosaurus Ornatus
''Millerosaurus'' is an extinct genus of millerettid parareptile from the Late Permian (Changhsingian stage) of South Africa. It was a small animal which reached a length of 30 cm. Like many other parareptiles, it had a single pair of holes ( fenestrae) behind the eyesockets in the skull. It had a slabsided body, a long tail, and a narrow but triangular skull (about 2 inches long) with large eyes, and is thought to have been insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we .... References Millerettidae Lopingian reptiles of Africa Prehistoric reptile genera Changhsingian life {{Permian-reptile-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milleropsis Pricei
''Milleropsis'' is an extinct genus of millerettid parareptile from the Late Permian (Changhsingian stage) of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O .... References Millerettidae Prehistoric reptile genera Changhsingian life Lopingian reptiles of Africa Fossil taxa described in 1972 {{Permian-reptile-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Millerosaurus Nuffieldi
''Millerosaurus'' is an extinct genus of millerettid parareptile from the Late Permian (Changhsingian stage) of South Africa. It was a small animal which reached a length of 30 cm. Like many other parareptiles, it had a single pair of holes ( fenestrae) behind the eyesockets in the skull. It had a slabsided body, a long tail, and a narrow but triangular skull (about 2 inches long) with large eyes, and is thought to have been insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we .... References Millerettidae Lopingian reptiles of Africa Prehistoric reptile genera Changhsingian life {{Permian-reptile-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broomia Perplexa
''Broomia'' is an extinct genus of millerettid parareptile from the Middle Permian (Capitanian stage) of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O .... It was originally described by D. M. S. Watson. References Millerettidae Guadalupian reptiles of Africa Prehistoric reptile genera Capitanian life {{permian-reptile-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eunotosaurus Africanus
''Eunotosaurus'' (''Latin'': Stout-backed lizard) is an extinct genus of amniote, possibly a close relative of turtles. ''Eunotosaurus'' lived in the late Middle Permian (Capitanian stage) and fossils can be found in the Karoo Supergroup of South Africa and Malawi. ''Eunotosaurus'' resided in the swamps of what is now southern Africa. Its ribs were wide and flat, forming broad plates similar to a primitive turtle shell, and the vertebrae were nearly identical to those of some turtles. Accordingly, it is often considered as a possible transitional fossil between turtles and their prehistoric ancestors. However, it is possible that these turtle-like features evolved independently of the same features in turtles, since other anatomical studies and phylogenetic analyses suggest that ''Eunotosaurus'' may instead have been a parareptile, an early-diverging neodiapsid unrelated to turtles, or a synapsid. Description ''Eunotosaurus'' reached up to in total body length. It had a broad bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stereosternum Tumidum
''Stereosternum tumidum'' (meaning "rigid chest") (Stereos, Greek: “solid, firm”; Sternon, Greek: “chest, breastbone”) is an extinct genus of mesosaur marine reptile from the Early Permian of Brazil and also the Great Karoo Basin of South Africa.Oelofsen, B. W. and D. C. Araujo. "Mesosaurus Tenuidens and Stereosternum Tumidum from the Permian Gondwana of Both Southern Africa and South America." South African Journal of Science, vol. 83, no. 6, 01 June 1987, pp. 370-372. The taxon mesosaur is a monophyletic group containing '' Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis'' and '' Mesosaurus tenuidens''. For most of the 20th century, information of ''Stereosternum'' was reported as ''Mesosaurus''. Unlike previous interpretations of Mesosaurs as filter feeding animals, later studies have shown that these animals were very much active aquatic predators. ''Stereosternum'' and ''Mesosaurus'' are the oldest reported reptile species to have had a range spanning two present-day continents, then joi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesosaurus Tenuidens
''Mesosaurus'' (meaning "middle lizard") is an extinct genus of reptile from the Early Permian of southern Africa and South America. Along with it, the genera '' Brazilosaurus'' and ''Stereosternum'', it is a member of the family Mesosauridae and the order Mesosauria. ''Mesosaurus'' was long thought to have been one of the first marine reptiles, although new data suggests that at least those of Uruguay inhabited a hypersaline water body, rather than a typical marine environment. In any case, it had many adaptations to a fully aquatic lifestyle. It is usually considered to have been anapsid, although Friedrich von Huene considered it to be a synapsid. Recent study of Mesosauridae phylogeny places the group as either the basal most clade within Parareptilia or the basal most clade within Sauropsida (with the latter being the less supported position) despite the skull of ''Mesosaurus'' possessing the "Synapsid condition" of one temporal fenestra. Discovery and naming The holotype o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
