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Pterosauromorpha
Pterosauromorpha (meaning "pterosaur-like forms") is one of the two basic divisions of Ornithodira that includes pterosaurs and all Taxon, taxa that are closer to them than to dinosaurs and their close relatives (i.e. Dinosauromorpha). In addition to pterosaurs, Pterosauromorpha also includes the Basal (phylogenetics), basal clade Lagerpetidae and some other Late Triassic ornithodirans (such as ''Scleromochlus''). Classification The name Pterosauromorpha was originally coined by Emil Kuhn-Schnyder and Hans Rieber (1986) for a Reptile, reptilian subclass distinct from Archosauria which includes pterosaurs. In 1997, Kevin Padian classified Pterosauromorpha as a clade of archosaurs and proposed Phylogenetic nomenclature, phylogenetic definition for this group: "Pterosauria and all ornithodiran archosaurs closer to them than to dinosaurs". Brian Andres and Kevin Padian redefined Pterosauromorpha as: "The clade consisting of ''Pterodactylus'' (originally ''Ornithocephalus'') ''antiqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maehary
''Maehary'' (meaning "one who looks to the sky" in Guarani language, Guaraní) is an extinct genus of probable gracilisuchid pseudosuchian archosaurs from the Late Triassic (Norian) Caturrita Formation of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The genus contains a single species, ''M. bonapartei'', known from a partial skull and fragmentary postcrania. ''Maehary'' was originally described as the Basal (phylogenetics), basalmost member of the Pterosauromorpha, but several subsequent studies have suggested pseudosuchian affinities are more likely. If this is correct, it would represent the youngest known member of the Gracilisuchidae. Discovery and naming The ''Maehary'' holotype specimen, CAPPA/Federal University of Santa Maria, UFSM 0300, was discovered between 2002 and 2005 in layers of the Caturrita Formation (Linha São Luiz Site, Candelária Formation, Paraná Basin, Candelária Sequence, Santa Maria Formation, Santa Maria Supersequence) near Faxinal do Soturno, Rio Grande do Sul, Bra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scleromochlus
''Scleromochlus'' (from , 'hard' and , 'lever') is an extinct genus of small pterosauromorph archosaurs from the Late Triassic Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland. The genus contains the type and only species ''Scleromochlus taylori'', named by Arthur Smith Woodward in 1907. Discovery Its fossils have been found in the Carnian Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland. The holotype was discovered around 1900 and is listed as specimen BMNH R3556, a partial skeleton preserved as an impression in sandstone, with portions of the skull and tail missing. Arthur Smith Woodward named and described ''Scleromochlus taylori'' in 1907. Description ''Scleromochlus taylori'' was about long, with long hind legs; it may have been capable of four-legged and two-legged locomotion. Studies about its gait suggest that it engaged in kangaroo- or springhare-like plantigrade hopping; however, a 2020 reassessment of ''Scleromochlus'' by Bennett suggested that it was a "sprawling quadrupedal hopper an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lagerpetidae
Lagerpetidae (; originally Lagerpetonidae) is a family of basal avemetatarsalians (early-diverging members of the reptile lineage leading to birds and other dinosaurs). Though traditionally considered the earliest-diverging dinosauromorphs (archosaurs closer to dinosaurs than to pterosaurs), fossils described in 2020 suggested that lagerpetids are instead an early branch of pterosauromorphs (closer to pterosaurs than to dinosaurs). Lagerpetid fossils are known from the Triassic of San Juan (Argentina), Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas (United States), Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil), and Madagascar. ''Scleromochlus'', a minuscule archosaur from Scotland, is sometimes regarded as a lagerpetid or close relative of the family. Lagerpetids were generally small and lightly-built animals; the largest include '' Dromomeron gigas'' (from Argentina) and an indeterminate ''Dromomeron'' specimen from the Santa Rosa Formation of Texas, reaching a femoral length of . Lagerpetid fossils are rare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. There were two major types of pterosaurs. Basal pterosaurs (also called 'non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs' or ' rhamphorhynchoids') were smaller animals with fully toothed jaws and, typically, long tails. Their wide wing membranes probably included and connected the hind legs. On the ground, they would have had an awkward sprawling posture, but the anatomy of their joints and strong claws would have made them effective climbers, and some may have even lived in trees. Basal pterosaurs were insectivores or predators of small vertebrates. Later pte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosauromorpha
Dinosauromorpha is a clade of avemetatarsalians ( archosaurs closer to birds than to crocodilians) that includes the Dinosauria (dinosaurs) and some of their close relatives. It was originally defined to include dinosauriforms and lagerpetids, with later formulations specifically excluding pterosaurs from the group. Birds are the only dinosauromorphs which survive to the present day. Classification The name "Dinosauromorpha" was briefly coined by Michael J. Benton in 1985. It was considered an alternative name for the group "Ornithosuchia", which was named by Jacques Gauthier to correspond to archosaurs closer to dinosaurs than to crocodilians. Although "Ornithosuchia" was later recognized as a misnomer (since ornithosuchids are now considered closer to crocodilians than to dinosaurs), it was still a more popular term than Dinosauromorpha in the 1980s. The group encompassed by Gauthier's "Ornithosuchia" and Benton's "Dinosauromorpha" is now given the name Avemetatarsalia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. There were two major types of pterosaurs. Basal pterosaurs (also called 'non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs' or ' rhamphorhynchoids') were smaller animals with fully toothed jaws and, typically, long tails. Their wide wing membranes probably included and connected the hind legs. On the ground, they would have had an awkward sprawling posture, but the anatomy of their joints and strong claws would have made them effective climbers, and some may have even lived in trees. Basal pterosaurs were insectivores or predators of small vertebrates. Later pte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithodira
Avemetatarsalia (meaning "bird metatarsals") is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all archosaurs more closely related to birds than to crocodilians. The two most successful groups of avemetatarsalians were the dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Dinosaurs were the largest terrestrial animals for much of the Mesozoic Era, and one group of small feathered dinosaurs (Aves, i.e. birds) has survived up to the present day. Pterosaurs were the first flying vertebrates and persisted through the Mesozoic before dying out at the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event. Both dinosaurs and pterosaurs appeared in the Triassic Period, shortly after avemetatarsalians as a whole. The name Avemetatarsalia was first established by British palaeontologist Michael Benton in 1999. An alternate name is Pan-Aves, or "all birds", in reference to its definition containing all animals, living or extinct, which are more closely related to birds than to crocodilians. Although dinosaurs and pterosaurs w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suchia
Suchia (from Ancient Greek σούχος (''soúkhos''), meaning "crocodile") is a clade of archosaurs containing the majority of pseudosuchians (crocodilians and their extinct relatives). It was defined as the least inclusive clade containing ''Aetosaurus, Aetosaurus ferratus'', ''Rauisuchus, Rauisuchus tiradentes'', ''Prestosuchus, Prestosuchus chiniquensis'', and ''Crocodylus niloticus'' (the living Nile crocodile) by Nesbitt (2011). Generally the only pseudosuchian group which is omitted from Suchia is the Family (biology), family Ornithosuchidae, although at least one analysis classifies ornithosuchids as close relatives of Erpetosuchidae, erpetosuchids (which are usually considered suchians) and aetosaurs (which are suchians by definition of the group). Phytosaurs are also excluded from Suchia, although it is not certain whether they qualify as pseudosuchians in the first place. There is some controversy over which traits, if any, can be used to distinguish suchians from non ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compsognathus
''Compsognathus'' (; Ancient Greek, Greek ''kompsos''/κομψός; "elegant", "refined" or "dainty", and ''gnathos''/γνάθος; "jaw") is a genus of small, bipedalism, bipedal, carnivore, carnivorous theropoda, theropod dinosaur. Members of its single species ''Compsognathus longipes'' could grow to around the size of a chicken (bird), chicken. They lived about 150 mya (unit), million years ago, during the Tithonian Stage (stratigraphy), age of the late Jurassic Period (geology), period, in what is now Europe. Paleontologists have found two well-preserved fossils, one in Germany in the 1850s and the second in France more than a century later. Today, ''C. longipes'' is the only recognized species, although the French specimen was once thought to belong to a separate species named ''C. corallestris''. Many presentations still describe ''Compsognathus'' as "chicken-sized" dinosaurs because of the size of the German specimen, which is now believed to be a juvenile. ''Comps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fossil
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''. Though the fossil record is incomplete, numerous studies have demonstrated that there is enough information available to give a good understanding of the pattern of diversification of life on Earth. In addition, the record can predict and fill gaps such as the discovery of '' Tiktaalik'' in the arctic of Canada. Paleontology includes the study of fossils: their age, method of formation, and evolutionary significance. Specimens are sometimes considered to be fossils if they are over 10,000 years old. The oldest fossils are around 3.48 billion years to 4.1 billion years old. Early edition, published online before prin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phylogenetics
In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical data and observed heritable traits of DNA sequences, protein amino acid sequences, and morphology. The results are a phylogenetic tree—a diagram depicting the hypothetical relationships among the organisms, reflecting their inferred evolutionary history. The tips of a phylogenetic tree represent the observed entities, which can be living taxa or fossils. A phylogenetic diagram can be rooted or unrooted. A rooted tree diagram indicates the hypothetical common ancestor of the taxa represented on the tree. An unrooted tree diagram (a network) makes no assumption about directionality of character state transformation, and does not show the origin or "root" of the taxa in question. In addition to their use for inferring phylogenetic pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
