Palaeopleurosaurus

Palaeopleurosaurus
Temporal range: Early Toarcian, 181 Ma
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Fossil specimen
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Rhynchocephalia
Family: †Pleurosauridae
Genus: †Palaeopleurosaurus
Carroll, 1985
Species:
†P. posidoniae
Binomial name
†Palaeopleurosaurus posidoniae
Carroll, 1985
Restoration of the skull in lateral and dorsal view

Palaeopleurosaurus (meaning "old side lizard") is an extinct genus of diapsid reptiles belonging to the group Sphenodontia.[1]

Palaeopleurosaurus fossils were discovered in Germany (Holzmaden and Kerkhofen) from the Lower Toarcian (Early Jurassic), Posidonia Shale, dated to about 182-180 million years ago.[2][3] The holotype come from the Middle Section, just under the Seagrasschiefer section (=Bifrons subzone) on both localities, probably linked with the coeval measured sea regression.[2] Initially, Paleopleurosaurus was described to represent an intermediate morphology between Late Triassic-Lower Jurassic terrestrial sphenodontia and the late Jurassic fully aquatic Pleurosaurus.[2] The study of a new specimen provided additional information, corroborating the existence of an early lineage of elongated sphenodontians, although with retained characters of terrestrial genera such as Kallimodon.[3]

  1. ^ Dupret, V. (2004). The pleurosaurs: anatomy and phylogeny. Revue de Paléobiologie, 9: 61-80.[1]
  2. ^ a b c R. L. Carroll, R. L. (1985). A pleurosaur from the Lower Jurassic and the taxonomic position of the Sphenodontida. Palaeontographica Abteilung A, 1985. Volume 189. Pages 1-28.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference pleuro2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).