Odoiporosaurus Teruzzii Skull
''Odoiporosaurus'' is an extinct genus of pachypleurosaur known from the Middle Triassic (middle Anisian stage) Besano Formation (Grenzbitumenzone) of northern Italy. It contains a single species, ''Odoiporosaurus teruzzii''. ''Odoiporosaurus'' is the sister taxon of the group formed by ''Serpianosaurus'' and '' Neusticosaurus'', and together with the older and more primitive ''Dactylosaurus'' plus ''Anarosaurus'' clade, they form a monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ... group of European pachypleurosaurids. References Triassic plesiosaurs Fossil taxa described in 2014 Fossils of Italy Anisian life Sauropterygian genera {{triassic-reptile-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Middle Triassic
In the geologic timescale, the Middle Triassic is the second of three epochs of the Triassic period or the middle of three series in which the Triassic system is divided in chronostratigraphy. The Middle Triassic spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Early Triassic Epoch and followed by the Late Triassic Epoch. The Middle Triassic is divided into the Anisian and Ladinian ages or stages. Formerly the middle series in the Triassic was also known as Muschelkalk. This name is now only used for a specific unit of rock strata with approximately Middle Triassic age, found in western Europe. Middle Triassic fauna Following the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the most devastating of all mass-extinctions, life recovered slowly. In the Middle Triassic, many groups of organisms reached higher diversity again, such as the marine reptiles (e.g. ichthyosaurs, sauropterygians, thallatosaurs), ray-finned fish and many invertebrate g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Serpianosaurus
''Serpianosaurus'' is an extinct genus of pachypleurosaurs known from the Middle Triassic (late Anisian and early Ladinian stages) deposits of Switzerland and Germany. It was a small reptile, with the type specimen of ''S. mirigiolensis'' measuring long. Fossils of the type species, '' S. mirigolensis'', have been found from the middle Grenzbitumenzone, the oldest strata of Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland, an area well known for its abundant pachypleurosaur remains. The locality dates back to sometime around the Anisian/Ladinian boundary of the Middle Triassic, around 242 Ma, with ''Serpianosaurus'' most likely occurring strictly during the latest Anisian. This makes it the one of the oldest sauropterygians from Monte San Giorgio, with only the rare pachypleurosaur '' Odoiporosaurus'' being older. Certain aspects of its morphology also suggest it is one of the most basal forms. Cajus G. Diedrich in 2013 described and named a second species, ''S. germanicus'', based on a pos ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fossils Of Italy
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the ''fossil record''. Paleontology is the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are usually considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years old to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before print. The observation in the 19th century that certain fossils were associated with certain rock strata led to the recognition of a geological timescale and the relative ages of different fossils. The development of radiometric dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed scientists to quantitatively measure the absolute ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Triassic Plesiosaurs
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 archosaurs, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Monophyletic
In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic groups are typically characterised by shared derived characteristics ( synapomorphies), which distinguish organisms in the clade from other organisms. An equivalent term is holophyly. The word "mono-phyly" means "one-tribe" in Greek. Monophyly is contrasted with paraphyly and polyphyly as shown in the second diagram. A ''paraphyletic group'' consists of all of the descendants of a common ancestor minus one or more monophyletic groups. A '' polyphyletic group'' is characterized by convergent features or habits of scientific interest (for example, night-active primates, fruit trees, aquatic insects). The features by which a polyphyletic group is differentiated from others are not inherited from a common ancestor. These definitions have t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, the equivalent Latin term ''cladus'' (plural ''cladi'') is often used in taxonomical literature. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed monophyletic (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not monophyletic. Some of the relationships between org ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anarosaurus
''Anarosaurus'' is an extinct genus of pachypleurosaurs that lived in the Middle Triassic period (Anisian) and has been found in the Jena Formation and the Karlstadt Formation of Germany and the Winterswijk Quarry ( Lower Muschelkalk) of The Netherlands. Two species are known: ''A. pumilio'' (the type species) and ''A. heterodontus''. The holotype of ''A. pumilio'' was originally housed at the Institut und Museum fur Geologie und Palaontologie, Georg-August-Universitat, Gottingen, but can no longer be located today because it was lost or destroyed during World War II. ''Anarosaurus'' was a small reptile with an estimated body length of . See also * List of plesiosaurs This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the order Plesiosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered inv ... References Triassic plesiosaurs Extinct animals of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dactylosaurus
''Dactylosaurus'' is a genus of nothosaur in the family Pachypleurosauridae. Along with '' Anarosaurus'', ''Dactylosaurus'' was one of the earliest known pachypleurosaurs to come from Europe.Lepidosauromorpha: Pachypleurosauridae: Dactylosaurus & Anarosaurus Palaeos.com. Last accessed 2008-07-04. Etymology ''Dactylosaurus'' comes from the ' (), "" and ' (), meaning "" or ...[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Neusticosaurus
''Neusticosaurus'' (sometimes misspelled ''Neuticosaurus'') ("swimming lizard"), is an extinct genus of marine reptile belonging to the pachypleurosaurs, from Italy, Switzerland and Germany. ''Neusticosaurus'' was one of the smallest nothosaurs and probably fed on small fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% .... References *Seeley, H.G. (1882). On ''Neusticosaurus pusillus'' (Fraas), an amphibious reptile having affinities with the terrestrial Nothosauria and with the marine Plesiosauria. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 38:350–366. Nothosaurs Triassic sauropterygians Middle Triassic reptiles of Europe Taxa named by Harry Seeley Fossil taxa described in 1882 Sauropterygian genera {{triassic-reptile-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sister Taxon
In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and taxon B are sister groups to each other. Taxa A and B, together with any other extant or extinct descendants of their most recent common ancestor (MRCA), form a monophyletic group, the clade AB. Clade AB and taxon C are also sister groups. Taxa A, B, and C, together with all other descendants of their MRCA form the clade ABC. The whole clade ABC is itself a subtree of a larger tree which offers yet more sister group relationships, both among the leaves and among larger, more deeply rooted clades. The tree structure shown connects through its root to the rest of the universal tree of life. In cladistic standards, taxa A, B, and C may represent specimens, species, genera, or any other taxonomic units. If A and B are at the same t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2014 In Paleontology
Plants Cnidarians Newly described cnidarians Arthropods Bryozoans Newly described bryozoans Brachiopods Molluscs Echinoderms Conodonts Newly described conodonts Fishes Amphibians Basalmost tetrapods Temnospondyls Research * Specimens of '' Micromelerpeton crederni'' with abnormalities in their limbs interpreted as a result of limb regeneration are described by Fröbisch, Bickelmann and Witzmann (2014). * Redescription of ''Mahavisaurus dentatus'' and '' Lyrosaurus australis'' and a study on the phylogenetic relationships of the rhytidosteids is published by Maganuco, Pasini & Auditore (2014). New taxa Chroniosuchians Lissamphibians Research * The humerus bone of a large calyptocephalellid anuran, apparently one of the largest fossil anurans known to date, is described by Otero ''et al.'' (2014) from the Eocene of Chile. New taxa Reptiles Synapsids Non-mammalian synapsids Research * A study on the diel activity patterns of non-mammalian sy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |