Microcnemus

Microcnemus
Temporal range: Early Triassic, 251–247 Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Order: †Protorosauria
Family: †Protorosauridae
Genus: †Microcnemus
von Huene, 1940
Type species
†Microcnemus efremovi
von Huene, 1940

Microcnemus is an extinct genus of lizard-like early archosauromorph reptiles from the Protorosauridae.[1][2][3][4] Members of the genus lived during the Early Triassic period in Russia (Benthosuchus assemblage zone). Once believed to have been an ancestor to lizards, Microcnemus is now known to be one of the oldest members of the lineage that would eventually lead to archosaurs such as crocodilians and dinosaurs. The type species, M. efremovi, was named in 1940 by the German palaeontologist Friedrich von Huene.[5]

The holotype, PIN 2252/387, consists of fifteen dorsal vertebrae, seventeen caudal vertebrae, two humeri, radius, ulna, ten femora, eleven tibiae, a fibula, ten unidentifiable bone fragments, a scapula-coracoid, a maxilla and dentary missing anterior end.[5][6]

  1. ^ "Microcnemus efremovi Huene, 1940". www.gbif.org. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  2. ^ "A new specialized prolacertilian (reptilia: Archosauromorpha) from the Lower Triassic of the Orenburg Region". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  3. ^ "Fossilworks: Microcnemus". fossilworks.org. Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  4. ^ "THE CONTINENTAL TRIASSIC BIOSTRATIGRAPHY OF THE TIMAN-NORTH URALS REGION". Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. U.S.: United States Department of the Interior.
  5. ^ a b v. Huene. 1940. Eine Reptilfauna aus der ältesten Trias Nordrußlands [A reptilian fauna from the earliest Triassic of northern Russia]. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Beilagen-Band, Abteilung B 84:1-23
  6. ^ "Microcnemus". Paleofile. Retrieved 14 August 2020.