''Wellesaurus'' 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 mastodonsauroid

temnospondyl Temnospondyli (from Greek language, Greek τέμνειν, ''temnein'' 'to cut' and σπόνδυλος, ''spondylos'' 'vertebra') or temnospondyls is a diverse ancient order (biology), order of small to giant tetrapods—often considered Labyrinth ...

. They were amphibious

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they ar ...

s that lived in freshwater environments. ''Wellesaurus'' encompasses several species which were connected when the genus was named in 1971. The type species, ''Wellesaurus peabodyi'', was originally named as ''Parotosaurus peabodyi'' in 1965. This species is based on UCMP 36058, a complete skull from the Wupatki Member of the

Moenkopi Formation The Moenkopi Formation is a geological formation that is spread across the U.S. states of New Mexico, northern Arizona, Nevada, southeastern California, eastern Utah and western Colorado. This unit is considered to be a Geological unit, group ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Many other skulls have been recovered from the area and referred to the species. ''Wellesaurus peabodyi'' is often considered synonymous with ''

Stanocephalosaurus birdi ''Stanocephalosaurus'' (stano from Greek stenos, meaning “narrow”, cephalo from Greek kephalē, meaning “head”) is an extinct genus of large-sized temnospondyls living through the early to mid Triassic. The etymology of its name most lik ...

'', a contemporaneous capitosaur named in 1933. Another potential species, ''Wellesaurus africanus'', is from subzone B of the ''Cynognathus'' Assemblage Zone in

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 ...

. Although this species was originally formulated in 1909, the fragmentary preservation of its material has prevented precise conclusions on its affinities. As a result, it has been referred to a variety of mastodonsauroid genera, including '' Capitosaurus'', ''

Parotosuchus ''Parotosuchus'' is an extinct genus of capitosaurian temnospondyls within the family Mastodonsauridae. Fossils are known from the Early Triassic of Europe, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. It was about long and likely lived in aquatic envir ...

'', and ''Wellesaurus.'' Based on a more complete skull, the ''africanus'' species was given its own genus, ''

Xenotosuchus ''Xenotosuchus'' is an extinct genus of mastodonsaurid temnospondyl within the family Mastodonsauridae known from the Triassic of South Africa. The genus is based on a skull originally described as ''Parotosuchus'', an animal which it resembled ...

'', in 2002. A third potential species, ''Wellesaurus bussoni'', was named in 1971 based on fragmentary skull material from the Lower Sandstone Member of the Zarzaïtine Series in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. This species is considered indeterminate and dubious, possibly representing remains of a juvenile heylerosaurid. It has also been connected with "''Parotosuchus lapperenti''", another obscure and indeterminate Algerian mastodonsauroid.

References

Capitosauria Triassic temnospondyls of North America Fossil taxa described in 1971 {{Temnospondyli-stub

See also

References