Dromomeron

Dromomeron
Temporal range: Late Triassic,
220–211.9 Ma
Hypothetical reconstruction of Dromomeron romeri
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Ornithodira
Clade: †Pterosauromorpha
Family: †Lagerpetidae
Genus: †Dromomeron
Irmis et al., 2007
Type species
†Dromomeron romeri Irmis et al., 2007
Other species
  • †D. gregorii Nesbitt et al., 2009
  • †D. gigas Martínez et al., 2016

Dromomeron (meaning "running femur") is a genus of lagerpetid avemetatarsalian which lived around 220 to 211.9 ± 0.7 million years ago.[1] The genus contains species known from Late Triassic-age rocks of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Argentina. It is described as most closely related to the earlier Lagerpeton of Argentina, but was found among remains of true dinosaurs like Chindesaurus, indicating that the first dinosaurs did not immediately replace related groups.[2]

Based on the study of the overlapping material of Dromomeron and Tawa hallae, Christopher Bennett proposed that the two taxa were conspecific, forming a single growth series of Dromomeron.[3] However, noting prominent differences between their femurs which cannot be attributed to variation with age, Rodrigo Muller rejected this proposal in 2017. He further noted that, while D. romeri is known from juveniles only, it shares many traits in common with D. gigas, which is known from mature specimens.[4]

  1. ^ Sterling J. Nesbitt; Julia Brenda Desojo; Randall B. Irmis, eds. (2013). Anatomy, Phylogeny and Palaeobiology of Early Archosaurs and Their Kin. The Geological Society of London. p. 164. ISBN 9781862393615. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference RIetal07 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Bennett, C.S. (2013). "A Rebuttal to Nesbitt's and Hone's "An external mandibular fenestra and other archosauriform characteristics in basal pterosaurs"" (PDF). International Symposium on Pterosaurs: 19–22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  4. ^ Müller, R.T. (2017). "Are the dinosauromorph femora from the Upper Triassic of Hayden Quarry (New Mexico) three stages in a growth series of a single taxon?" (PDF). Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 89 (2): 835–839. doi:10.1590/0001-3765201720160583. PMID 28489198.