Microposaurus

Microposaurus
Temporal range: Middle Triassic
Life restoration of Microposaurus averyi
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Temnospondyli
Suborder: Stereospondyli
Family: Trematosauridae
Subfamily: Trematosaurinae
Genus: Microposaurus
Haughton, 1925
Species
  • M. casei Haughton, 1925 (type)
  • M. averyi Warren, 2012

Microposaurus (meaning "small eyed lizard"; from Greek μικρός, "small" + ὀπός, "face" or "eye" + σαῦρος, "lizard") is an extinct genus of trematosaurid temnospondyl. Fossils are known from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group (part of the Karoo Supergroup) in South Africa and the Rouse Hill Siltstone of Australia and date back to the Anisian stage of the Middle Triassic.[1] A mandible from the Lower Anisian Mukheiris Formation in Jordan shares many similarities with the genus, including a similarly sized Meckelian fenestra on the inner surface of the lower jaw, teeth with sharp edges, and large fangs in the upper jaw.[2]

References

  1. Damani, Ross (2004). “Cranial anatomy and relationships of Microposaurus casei, a temnospondyl from the MiddleTriassic of South Africa”. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 24(3): 533–541
  2. Schoch, R.R. (2011). "A trematosauroid temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic of Jordan". Fossil Record 14 (2): 119–127. doi:10.1002/mmng.201100002.
Triassic Period
Lower/Early Triassic Middle Triassic Upper/Late Triassic
Induan |Olenekian Anisian | Ladinian Carnian | Norian
Rhaetian


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