''Pariotichus'' is an extinct

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of gymnarthrid microsaurs from the early Permian of Texas.

History of study

''Pariotichus'' was collected by Jacob Boll from the Wichita Group of Texas in 1878 and described by American paleontologist

Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontology, paleontologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist, herpetology, herpetologist, and ichthyology, ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker fam ...

in the same year. It is one of the first 'microsaurs' to be described from North America. The type species is ''Pariotichus brachyops'', which remains the only presently recognized species of the genus. Other species of ''Pariotichus'' were described, mostly by Cope, that have subsequently been identified as captorhinomorph reptiles (including the well-known ''

Captorhinus aguti ''Captorhinus'' (from , 'to gulp down' and , 'nose') is an extinct genus of Captorhinidae, captorhinid reptiles that lived during the Permian period. Its remains are known from North America (Oklahoma, Texas) and possibly South America. Descr ...

'') and were reassigned by Case (1911). One other species, "''Pariotichus megalops''" is a junior synonym of the dvinosaur temnospondyl '' Isodectes obtusus.'' The osteology and relationships of ''P. brachyops'' were subsequently reviewed by Gregory et al. (1956) and Carroll & Gaskill (1978).

Anatomy

The holotype and only specimen of ''Pariotichus'' is a partial skull currently reposited at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

. The relatively poor preservation has complicated attempts to properly characterize its anatomy relative to other early Permian gymnarthrids from Texas, particularly the smaller ''

Cardiocephalus ''Cardiocephalus'' is an extinct genus of microsaurian tetrapods from the Permian period. It was a member of the family Gymnarthridae Gymnarthridae is an extinct family of the group Recumbirostra. Gymnarthrids are known from Europe and North A ...

'' and the larger ''

Euryodus ''Euryodus'' is an extinct genus of microsaur within the family Gymnarthridae. ''Euryodus'' is a Lepospondyl from the clade Microsauria that lived during the Early Permian. The name comes from Greek, meaning ‘broad-tooth’. It has been found ...

''. General attributes of the skull such as proportions and dental morphology conform to those of other gymnarthrids. The most recent revision by Carroll & Gaskill (1978) did not present a diagnosis for the genus or species. The stratigraphic occurrence in the Wichita Group precedes that of ''Cardiocephalus'' and ''Euryodus'' in the Clear Fork Group.

Relationships

''Pariotichus'' has rarely been included in phylogenetic analyses but is usually recovered as a gymnarthrid. Below are the results of the analysis by Huttenlocker et al. (2013):

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7137152 Gymnarthrids Permian amphibians Permian amphibians of North America Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope

History of study

Anatomy

Relationships

See also

References