Stereosternum

Stereosternum
Temporal range: Cisuralian
~299–270.6 Ma
Fossil in Naturmuseum Senckenberg
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: †Parareptilia
Order: †Mesosauria
Family: †Mesosauridae
Genus: †Stereosternum
Cope, 1885
Type species
†Stereosternum tumidum
Cope, 1885[1]
Synonyms

Mesosaurus tumidum (Cope, 1885)

Stereosternum tumidum (meaning "rigid chest") (Stereos, Greek: “solid, firm”; Sternon, Greek: “chest, breastbone”) [2] is an extinct genus of mesosaur marine reptile from the Early Permian of Brazil and also the Great Karoo Basin of South Africa.[3] The taxon mesosaur is a monophyletic group containing Brazilosaurus sanpauloensis and Mesosaurus tenuidens.

For most of the 20th century, information of Stereosternum was reported as Mesosaurus.[4] Unlike previous interpretations of Mesosaurs as filter feeding animals, later studies have shown that these animals were very much active aquatic predators.[5] Stereosternum and Mesosaurus are the oldest reported reptile species to have had a range spanning two present-day continents, then joined as Gondwana and they represent the first record of reptile species shared by both Southern Africa and South America.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Cope was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Untitled Document." Untitled Document. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2017. http://www.paleofile.com/Anapsidalist/Stereosternum.asp
  3. ^ a b Oelofsen, B. W. and D. C. Araujo. "Mesosaurus Tenuidens and Stereosternum Tumidum from the Permian Gondwana of Both Southern Africa and South America." South African Journal of Science, vol. 83, no. 6, 01 June 1987, pp. 370-372.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Modesto was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pretto was invoked but never defined (see the help page).