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from france the early permian stereophallodon baldwinonus from north america protoclepsydrops haplous carrol 1964 from nova scotia might also have been an ophiacodontid predating archaeothyris but the remains are so fragmentary that it is difficult to tell for sure refrerences brinkman d 1988 size independent criteria for estimating relative age in ophiacodon and dimetrodon reptilia pelycosauria from the admiral and lower belle plains formations of west central texas journal of vertebrate paleontology 8 2 172 180 f broili 1904 permische stegocephalen und reptilien aus texas palaeontographica 51 1 120 carroll robert l 1964 the earliest reptiles journal of the linnean society of london zoology 45 304 61 83 e c case 1907 revision of the pelycosauria of north america carnegie institution of washington 55 3 176 e d cope 1878 descriptions of extinct batrachia and reptilia from the permian formations of texas proceedings of the american philosophical society 17 505 530 felice r n angielczyk k d 2014 was ophiacodon synapsida eupelycosauria a swimmer a test using vertebral dimensions in early evolutionary history of the synapsida pp 25 51 springer netherlands r r reisz 1972 pelycosaurian reptiles from the middle pennsylvanian of north america bulletin of the museum of comparative zoology 144 2 27 60 a s romer 1925 an ophiacodont reptile from the permian of kansas journal of geology 33 2 173 182 a s romer 1937 new genera and species of pelycosaurian reptiles proceedings of the new england zoölogical club 16 89 95 a s romer and l i price 1940 review of the pelycosauria geological society of america special paper 28 1 538 williston s w case e c 1913 description of a nearly complete skeleton of ophiacodon marsh carnegie institution of washington publication 181 37 59 posted by nobu tamura at 5 29 pm 5 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels archaeothyris carboniferous ophiacodon pelycosaur permian synapsid varanosaurus tuesday december 30 2014 2014 in paleontology here are my picks for the top paleontology stories of year 2014 not in particular order 1 fossilized pigments show mesozoic marine reptiles in their true colors tylosaurus nepaeolicus ref lindgren j sjövall p carney r m uvdal p gren j a dyke g polcyn m j 2014 skin pigmentation provides evidence of convergent melanism in extinct marine reptiles nature 506 484 488 2 copulation and internal fertilization have appeared 385 millions years ago in primitive armored fish adding a big step to our understanding of the evolution of sex in our distant ancestors ref long j a mark kurik e johanson z lee m s young g c min z trinajstic k 2014 copulation in antiarch placoderms and the origin of gnathostome internal fertilization nature published online 3 new fossils of the cambrian chordate metaspriggina walcotti show that it was an early very primitive fish metaspriggina walcotti ref morris s c caron j b 2014 a primitive fish from the cambrian of north america nature 512 7515 419 422 4 exceptionally well preserved fossilized eye tissues of a 300 millions years old spiny shark acanthodes bridgei shows it had color vision acanthodes sp ref tanaka g parker a r hasegawa y siveter d j yamamoto r miyashita k maeda h 2014 mineralized rods and cones suggest colour vision in a 300 myr old fossil fish nature communications 5 5920 5 spinosaurus was an odd looking semi aquatic predator that might have walked on all four ref ibrahim n sereno p c dal sasso c maganuco s fabbri m martill d m iurino d a 2014 semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur science 345 6204 1613 1616 deinocheirus mirificus spinosaurus aegyptiacus 6 two new fossils of deinocheirus mirificus solved 44 years old terror arms mystery ref lee y n barsbold r currie p j kobayashi y lee h j godefroit p chinzorig t 2014 resolving the long standing enigmas of a giant ornithomimosaur deinocheirus mirificus nature 515 257 260 dreadnoughtus schrani 7 dreadnoughtus schrani one of the largest dinosaurs and the most complete skeleton of a titanosaur to have been discovered to date ref lacovara k j lamanna m c ibiricu l m poole j c schroeter e r ullmann p v novas f e 2014 a gigantic exceptionally complete titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from southern patagonia argentina scientific reports 4 6196 kulindadromeus zabaikalicus 8 the discovery of the feathered ornithischian kulindadromeus zabaikalicus suggests that the earliest dinosaurs probably also sported feathers ref godefroit p sinitsa s m dhouailly d bolotsky y l sizov a v mcnamara m e spagna p 2014 a jurassic ornithischian dinosaur from siberia with both feathers and scales science 345 6195 451 455 vintana sertichi 9 the discovery of a complete skull of vintana sertichi shed light on an obscure group of mammals called gondwanatheres previously reported from teeth and jaw fragments only ref krause d w hoffmann s wible j r kirk e c schultz j a von koenigswald w andriamialison h 2014 first cranial remains of a gondwanatherian mammal reveal remarkable mosaicism nature 515 7528 512 517 atopodentatus unicus 10 atopodentatus unicus is probably one of the strangest vertebrate fossil ever found ref cheng l chen x h shang q h wu x c 2014 a new marine reptile from the triassic of china with a highly specialized feeding adaptation naturwissenschaften 101 3 251 259 semirostrum cerrutii 11 a fossil porpoise semirostrum cerrutii reveals unique skim feeding habit ref racicot r a deméré t a beatty b l boessenecker r w 2014 unique feeding morphology in a new prognathous extinct porpoise from the pliocene of california current biology 24 7 774 779 12 a massive genomic analysis on 44 species of birds representing all extant orders resolves bird tree of life and ancestry chickens and turkeys it turns out were found to be more closer to their dinosaur ancestors than any other birds ref jarvis e d mirarab s aberer a j li b houde p li c samaniego j a 2014 whole genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds science 346 6215 1320 1331 posted by nobu tamura at 7 18 pm 3 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest monday november 3 2014 extraordinary tanystropheus tanystropheus longobardicus reconstructed as a shoreline fish hunter with a length approaching 5 meters for the largest specimens half of which taken up by an extremely elongated neck tanystropheus was a truly remarkable creature the neck was quite rigid being made of only a dozen of elongated cervical vertebrae the behavioral habit of tanystropheus has been intensely debated and the exact function of such a neck still constitutes to this day a puzzling enigma at first and based on fragmentary and disarticulated remains from germany tanystropheus was thought to be a flying reptile nopsca 1923 later when more complete and articulated fossils have been discovered in the alps it was viewed as a terrestrial lizard like creature that hunted fish from the shoreline using its neck to reach out long distances peyer 1931 still a later study found that the neck was probably too rigid to be flexed above shoulder level forcing it to an horizontal position therefore making a fully aquatic lifestyle more probable tschanz 1986 however it was argued that tanystropheus s skeleton does not show any obvious sign of aquatic adaptation and the limbs were ill suited for paddling so the question of how this animal could have swam in open water makes the hypothesis problematic a new specimen from switzerland with preserved skin and soft tissue impressions renesto 2005 shows a large amount of fleshy part in the tail which would have acted as an efficient counterweight to the neck making it possible for the animal to moved it up this last study makes peyer s hypothesis of a semi aquatic animal staying on the shoreline and using its long neck to reach out for fish farther in the water more likely but the debate is certainly far from being closed nosotti 2007 tanystropheus belongs to a small group of basal archosauromorphs the group that contains all archosaurs such as crocs dinos and birds called protorosaurs some well known members of this group of late permian to late triassic animals include protorosaurus speneri from the late permian of germany the monkey lizard drepanosaurus unguicaudatus and megalancosaurus preonensis of the late triassic of italy and tanystropheus several species of tanystropheus have been described probably not all valid the type species t conspicuus meyer 1855 from the middle triassic anisian upper muschelkalk of germany is known from very fragmentary material the most completely and best known species is t longobardicus bassani 1886 for which many specimens some quite complete adults and juveniles from the middle triassic besano formation of italy were found specimens from the monte san giorgio in switzerland have been referred to this species as well as one specimen from the falang formation of the guizhou province of china rieppel et al 2010 the latter confirms the close faunal connection between the western side of the tethys sea europe and its eastern border china during the middle triassic period t meridensis wild 1980 is known from a single incomplete specimen from the meride limestome monte san girogio switzerland but this one is probably a junior synonym of t longobardicus t haasi rieppel 2001 from the middle triassic muschelkalk of israel has been described based on cervical vertebrae tanystropheus forms with all its closest long necked relatives the family tanystropheidae these include amotosaurus rotfeldensis fraser rieppel 2006 from the middle triassic upper buntsandstein of germany the recently described and oldest member of the group augustaburiania vatagini sennikov 2011 from the early triassic of the don river volgograd region russia protanystropheus antiquus huene 1905 from the middle triassic lower muschelkalk gogolin formation anisian of poland tanytrachelos ahynis olsen 1979 from the late triassic cow branch formation newark supergroup of north carolina and virginia and dinocephalosaurus orientalis li 2003 from the middle triassic guanling formation of the guizhou province of china some authors also include the bizarre langobardisaurus renesto 1994 from the late triassic zorzino limestone formation of italy references fraser n rieppel o 2006 a new protorosaur diapsida from the upper buntsandstein of the black forest germany journal of vertebrate paleontology 26 4 866 871 nosotti s 2007 tanystropheus longobardicus reptilia protorosauria re interpretations of the anatomy based on new specimens from the middle triassic of besano lombardy northern italy società italiana di scienze naturali e museo civico di storia naturale peyer b ed 1931 die triasfauna der tessiner kalkalpen 2 tanystropheus longobardicus bass sp birkhäuser renesto s 2005 a new specimen of tanystropheus reptilia protorosauria from the middle triassic of switzerland and the ecology of the genus rivista italiana di paleontologia e stratigrafia 111 3 377 394 rieppel o 2001 a new species of tanystropheus reptilia protorosauria from the middle triassic of makhtesh ramon israel neues jahrbuch für geologie und paläontologie abhandlungen 271 287 rieppel o jiang d fraser n 2010 tanystropheus cf t longobardicus from the early late triassic of guizhou province southwestern china journal of vertebrate paleontology 30 july 1082 1089 tschanz k 1986 funktionelle anatomie der halswirbelsäule von tanystropheus longobardicus bassani aus der trias anis ladin des monte san giorgio tessin auf der basis vergleichend morphologischer untersuchungen an der halsmuskulatur rezenter echsen na wild r 1980 tanystropheus reptilia squamata and its importance for stratigraphy mémoires de la société géologique de france ns 139 201 206 posted by nobu tamura at 7 55 pm 7 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels archosauromorph protorosaur tanystropheus triassic monday september 1 2014 meet the chroniosuchians chroniosaurus dongusensis measured about 30 cm in length chroniosuchians form a very obscure group of small superficially croc like four legged animals that lived during the late permian period and survived until the middle and perhaps late triassic periods most species are from the late permian late tatarian regional stage of russia but they are also known from china germany and kyrgyzstan they were aquatic or semi aquatic fish eating predators characterized by a distinct row of interconnected butterfly shaped bony plates or scutes osteoderms covering their back and part of their tail one for each vertebra they are traditionally subdivided into two families the more primitive chroniosuchidae from the late permian with one representative in the triassic and the bystrowianidae from the late permian to the middle triassic the exact affinities of the chroniosuchians are quite uncertain they are usually placed among non amniote reptiliomorphs but more recent studies make them stem tetrapods so not reptiles and not quite amphibians but something a bit more primitive the eel like embolomeres appear to have been their closest relatives madygenerpeton pustulatus from kyrgyzstan among the chroniosuchids chroniosaurus dongusensis tverdochlebova 1972 from the late permian of the orenburg province of russia is probably the best known species with fossils from many individuals including one near complete articulated specimen chroniosuchus paradoxus vjuschkov 1957 also from the orenburg province but a bit younger differs in the taller shape of its skull madygenerpeton pustulatus schoch et al 2010 from the middle or late triassic of kyrgyzstan appears to be the basalmost member of the group despite its late occurrence the type specimen is a nearly complete skull showing a broad snout quite different from the two previous species jarilinus mirabilis vjuschkov 1957 from the novgorod province and uralerpeton tverdochlebovae golubev 1998 from the vladimir province were quite large species for the group the reconstructed skull of the former measuring 20 cm and of the latter some 55 cm the others three species chroniosaurus levis golubev 1908 chroniosuchus lichaveri riabinin 1962 and suchonica vladimiri golubev 1999 all from the vologda province of russia are only known from fragmentary remains chroniosuchus paradoxus the other family the bystrowianids are much less known their fossil remains consisting mainly on isolated armor scutes late permian species include bystrowiana permira vjuschkov 1957 from the vladimir province of russia bystrowiana sinica young 1979 dromotectum largum liu et al 2014 and jinyuanitectum flatum liu et al 2014 the last three from the henan province of china early triassic species are axitectum vjushkov i shishkin novikov 1992 from the novgorod province axitectum georgi novikov shishkin 2000 from the kirov province dromotectum spinosum novikov shishkin 1996 from the orenburg province middle triassic forms are synesuchus muravjevi novikov ...