Bunostegos

Bunostegos
Temporal range: Lopingian, 252 Ma
↓
Reconstruction
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Reptilia
Order:
†Procolophonomorpha
Family:
†Pareiasauridae
Genus:
†Bunostegos

Sidor et al., 2003
Type species
†Bunostegos akokanensis
Sidor et al., 2003

Bunostegos ("knobbly [skull] roof"[1]) is an extinct genus of pareiasaur parareptile from the Late Permian of the Agadez Region in Niger. The type species, Bunostegos akokanensis, was named from the Moradi Formation in 2003.[2] It was a cow-sized animal with a distinctive skull that had large bony knobs, similar in form to those of other pareiasaurs but far larger. The species appears to have lived in a desert in the centre of the supercontinent of Pangaea.

Analysis of the limb bones (including the scapulocoracoid, humerus, radius, ulna, pelvis, and femur) was published in 2015, and revealed that Bunostegos walked upright on four limbs, with the body held above ground.[3] This new information directly suggests that it could be the first tetrapod with a fully erect gait.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Smithsonian was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Sidor, C.A.; Blackburn, D.C.; Gado, B. (2003). "The vertebrate fauna of the Upper Permian of Niger — II, Preliminary description of a new pareiasaur" (PDF). Palaeontologica Africana. 39: 45–52. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-11-07. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
  3. ^ Turner, Morgan L.; Tsuji, Linda A.; Ide, Oumarou; Sidor, Christian A. (2015). "The vertebrate fauna of the upper Permian of Niger—IX. The appendicular skeleton of Bunostegos akokanensis (Parareptilia: Pareiasauria)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35 (6): e994746. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.994746. S2CID 86503874.
  4. ^ "Pre-reptile may be earliest known to walk upright on all fours". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 18 September 2015.