| Vigilius Temporal range: Middle Triassic,
| |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Vigilius_wellesi.jpg)
| |
| Restoration of Vigilius wellesi | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Temnospondyli |
| Suborder: | †Stereospondyli |
| Family: | †Brachyopidae |
| Genus: | †Vigilius Warren and Marsicano, 2000 |
| Type species | |
| †Vigilius wellesi Warren and Marsicano, 2000
| |
Vigilius is an extinct genus of brachyopid temnospondyl amphibian from the Triassic of Arizona. It is known from the single type species Vigilius wellesi.[1][2]
The holotype specimen of Vigilius is a skull labelled UCMP 36199. The skull was found in an area alongside Arizona State Route 64 overlooking the Grand Canyon. It came from a layer of the Early Triassic Moenkopi Formation. The skull was described by paleontologists Samuel Paul Welles and Richard Estes in 1969 and attributed to a new genus and species of brachyopid called Hadrokkosaurus bradyi. The holotype of Hadrokkosaurus was an isolated lower jaw. In 2000, paleontologists Anne Warren and Claudia Marsicano suggested that the lower jaw and skull represent two different species, as they were found over 160 kilometres (99 mi) apart and come from two animals of different size. Warren and Marsicano assigned the skull the a new genus and species Vigilius wellesi. The genus name comes from the Latin word vigilia meaning "keeping watch," a reference to its large eye sockets and "to the fact that the skull was keeping vigil over the Grand Canyon."[1] The species was named in honor of Welles. Several bones found around the Grand Canyon site were also attributed to Vigilius, including a pterygoid bone that was described in 1971 as a scapulacoracoid. Additional remains were found 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of Holbrook, Arizona.[1]
- ^ a b c Warren, A.; Marsicano, C. (2000). "A phylogeny of the Brachyopoidea (Temnospondyli, Stereospondyli)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 20 (3): 462. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0462:APOTBT]2.0.CO;2. hdl:11336/93649.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
fossilworkswas invoked but never defined (see the help page).