Triassic marine vertebrate apex predators

''Aphaneramma'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of marine temnospondyl amphibian. It lived during the

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 ...

epoch. Fossils have been found in the

Mianwali Formation Mianwali (Punjabi/ ur, ) is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan. The 81st largest city of Pakistan, it is known for its diverse population of, Punjabi and Pashtun ethnicities. History Mianwali District was an agri ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, the Zhitkov Formation of Russia,Zhitkov Formation
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was cre ...

.org and the

Kongressfjellet Formation Kongressfjellet is a mountain in Dickson Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It has a height of 605 m.a.s.l. Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mea ...

of Svalbard (

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

). ''Aphaneramma'' had a

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, t ...

about . ''Aphaneramma'''s jaws were very long, similar to the

gharial The gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus''), also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are long, and males . Adult males have a distinct ...

's, and lined with small

teeth A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, te ...

. This adaptation suggests it may have preyed on fish. A marine lifestyle for this animal was proposed. ''Aphaneramma'' is closely related to '' Cosgriffius'' from North America.

References

Lonchorhynchines Triassic temnospondyls of Europe Triassic amphibians of Europe Triassic temnospondyls of Asia Triassic amphibians of Asia Induan life Fossils of Norway Fossils of Russia Fossils of Pakistan Fossil taxa described in 1904 {{Triassic-animal-stub