Ischigualastia

Ischigualastia
Temporal range: Late Triassic
~231.4 Ma
↓
Mounted skeleton of Ischigualastia jenseni
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Synapsida
Order: Therapsida
Suborder: Anomodontia
Infraorder: Dicynodontia
Family: Stahleckeriidae
Genus: Ischigualastia
Cox 1962
Species

Ischigualastia is an extinct genus of dicynodonts (a group of synapsids), that lived during the Carnian age of the Late Triassic Period. From the Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina, it was a member of the family Stahleckeriidae.[1]

Description

Life reconstruction of Ischigualastia jenseni

The genus is described as an enormous dicynodont, with a short, high skull, and lacking tusks.[2] It is regarded as larger than its later, more famous relative Placerias, which was up to 3.5 meters (11 feet) long and weighed 1 to 2 tonnes (0.98 to 1.97 long tons; 1.1 to 2.2 short tons).

Paleoecology

It was a large quadrupedal herbivore, most common at the base of the Ischigualasto Formation. It was a common member of the local fauna, although not as abundant as the medium-sized herbivores Hyperodapedon and Exaeretodon. The only danger to such a huge animal was the almost equally large carnivorous pseudosuchian Saurosuchus and perhaps the predatory dinosaur Herrerasaurus, which shared the same environment. It is likely that pressure from this predator pushed Ischigualastia into extinction, for it becomes less common and finally disappears in the higher levels of the Ischigualasto Formation. A somewhat smaller relative or descendant, Placerias, survived in Laurasia.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Carroll, Robert L. (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company. ISBN 0-7167-1822-7.
  2. 1 2 Kazlev, M.A., White, A.T. (2004-02-01). "Therapsida: Neotherapsida: Dicynodontia". Palaeos. Retrieved 1 November 2014.


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