Pelorocephalus

Pelorocephalus
Temporal range: Late Triassic
Skull of Pelorocephalus mendozensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Temnospondyli
Suborder: Stereospondyli
Family: Chigutisauridae
Genus: Pelorocephalus
Cabrera, 1944
Species
  • Pelorocephalus mendozensis Cabrera, 1944 (type)
  • Pelorocephalus tenax (Rusconi, 1949) (originally Chigutisaurus tenax)
  • Pelorocephalus cacheutensis (Rusconi, 1953) (originally Chigutisaurus cacheutensis)
  • ?Pelorocephalus ischigualastensis Bonaparte, 1975
Life restoration of Pelorocephalus tenax

Pelorocephalus (meaning "monstrous head" in Greek) is an extinct genus of chigutisaurid temnospondyls from Late Triassic of Argentina. Three species are currently recognized: the type species C. mendozensis, which was named in 1944, P. tenax, which was named in 1949 as a species of Chigutisaurus and reassigned to Pelorocephalus in 1999, and P. cacheutensis, which was named in 1953 as another species of Chigutisaurus and reassigned to Pelorocephalus along with P. tenax. A fourth species, P. ischigualastensis, was named in 1975 but is based on too little material to distinguish it from other species. The species P. tunuyanensis was named in 1948 but has since been synonymized with P. mendozensis.[1] The largest individuals are estimated to have been over 107 cm in length.[2]

References

  1. Warren, A.; Marsicano, C. (2000). "A phylogeny of the Brachyopoidea (Temnospondyli, Stereospondyli)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20 (3): 462. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0462:APOTBT]2.0.CO;2.
  2. http://www.angellis.net/Web/PDfiles/amphs.pdf
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