Heleosaurus

Heleosaurus
Temporal range: Early-Middle Permian, 290–270 Ma
Drawing of the Holotype specimen of Heleosaurus scholtzi (from Carroll, 1976)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Family: †Varanopidae
Subfamily: †Mycterosaurinae
Genus: †Heleosaurus
Broom, 1907
Type species
†Heleosaurus scholtzi
Broom, 1907

Heleosaurus scholtzi is an extinct species of basal synapsids, known as pelycosaurs, in the family of Varanopidae during the middle Permian.[1] At first H. scholtzi was mistakenly classified as a diapsid.[2] Members of this family were carnivorous and had dermal armor, and somewhat resembled monitor lizards.[1] This family was the most geologically long lived, widespread, and diverse group of early amniotes. To date only two fossils have been found in the rocks of South Africa.[3][4] One of these fossils is an aggregation of five individuals.[4][5]

H. scholtzi was first described by Broom in 1907 who originally placed it as an early diapsid.[3] It is named for his student, T.J.R. Scholtz, and was originally called Galechirus scholtzi.[3] Later work placed it as an Eosuchian[6] in the family Younginidae[6] and even proposed as an ancestor for Archosauria.[6] More recent work has placed it where it is now within Mycterosaurinae in the family Varanopidae.[1][5] The closely related Elliotsmithia longiceps has been placed in a sister taxon to H. scholtzi.[5]

  1. ^ a b c Reisz, R. R. & Modesto, S. P. 2007. Heleosaurus scholtzi from the Permian of South Africa: a varanopid synapsid, not a diapsid reptile. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27 (3): 734-739.
  2. ^ Benton, M. J. 1985. Classification and phylogeny of the diapsid reptiles. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 84:97–164.
  3. ^ a b c Broom, R. "On Some New Fossil Reptiles from the Karroo Beds of Victoria West, South Africa." Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society 18 (1907): 31-42. Taylor and Francis Online. Web.
  4. ^ a b Botha-Brink, Jennifer. "A Mixed-Age Classed 'Pelycosaur' Aggregation from South Africa: Earliest Evidence of Parental Care in Amniotes?" Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 274.1627 (2007): 2829-834. JSTOR. Web. 06 Mar. 2017
  5. ^ a b c Botha-Brink, Jennifer, and Sean P. Modesto. "Anatomy and Relationships of the Middle Permian Varanopid Heleosaurus scholtzi Based on a Social Aggregation from the Karoo Basin of South Africa." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29.2 (2009): 389-400. Web.
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference C76 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).