Purranisaurus

Purranisaurus is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliform from the Middle to Late Jurassic period of Chile and Argentina. Rusconi originally regarded Purranisaurus potens (the type species) to be a plesiosaur;[1] however, Gasparini demonstrated that it was in fact a metriorhynchid crocodyliform, and that may be a junior synonym of Metriorhynchus.[4]

Purranisaurus
Temporal range: Callovian-Tithonian
167–150 Ma
Purranisaurus casamiquelai
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Sauropsida
(unranked):
Mesoeucrocodylia
Suborder:
Thalattosuchia
Family:
Metriorhynchidae
Genus:
Purranisaurus

Rusconi 1948[1]
Species
  • P. casamiquelai Gasparini & Chong 1977[2]
  • P. westermanni Gasparini 1980[3]
  • P. potens Rusconi 1948 (type)

Taxonomy and phylogeny

In the 2000s phylogenetic analysis has shown that Purranisaurus is a distinct metriorhynchid genus.[5][6] A subsequent study expanded the genus Purranisaurus to include Metriorhynchus casamiquelai and M. westermanni.[7]

Valid species
  • P. casamiquelai: Middle Jurassic of Chile (Callovian);[2]
  • P. westermanni: Middle Jurassic of Chile (Callovian). Although previously considered a junior synonym of P. casamiquelai,[8] it has been revalidated.[9]
  • P. potens: Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Vaca Muerta of Argentina[10]

References
  1. Rusconi C. 1948. Nuevo plesiosaurio, pez y langostas del mar jurasico de Mendoza. Mendoza, Mus. Hist. Nat., Rev. 2: 3–12.
  2. Gasparini Z, Chong G. 1977. Metriorhynchus casamiquelai n. sp. (Crocodilia, Thalattosuchia) a marine crocodile from the Jurassic (Callovian) of Chile, South America. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 153 (3): 341-360.
  3. Gasparini ZB. 1980. Un nuevo cocodrilo marino (Crocodylia, Metriorhynchidae) del Caloviano del norte de Chile. Ameghiniana 17: 97–103.
  4. Gasparini Z. 1975. Revisión de ?Purranisaurus potens Rusconi, 1948 (Crocodilia, Thalattosuchia) Los Thalattosuchia como un nuevo Infraorden de los Crocodilia. Actas del Congreso Geologico Argentino 5: 423–431.
  5. Young MT. 2007. The evolution and interrelationships of Metriorhynchidae (Crocodyliformes, Thalattosuchia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27 (3): 170A.
  6. Young, Mark T., and Marco Brandalise de Andrade, 2009. "What is Geosaurus? Redescription of Geosaurus giganteus (Thalattosuchia: Metriorhynchidae) from the Upper Jurassic of Bayern, Germany." Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 157: 551-585.
  7. Young, Mark T., Brusatte, Stephen L., Ruta, M., Andrade, Marco B. 2009. "The evolution of Metriorhynchoidea (Mesoeucrocodylia, Thalattosuchia): an integrated approach using geometrics morphometrics, analysis of disparity and biomechanics". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158: 801-859.
  8. Gasparini Z, Vignaud P, Chong G. 2000. The Jurassic Thalattosuchia (Crocodyliformes) of Chile: a paleobiogeographic approach. Bulletin Société Géologique de France 171 (6): 657-664
  9. Gasparini ZB, Paulina-Carabajal A, Chong G. 2008. Un nuevo espécimen de cocodrilo marino del Jurásico Medio del norte de Chile: revalidación de Metriorhynchus westermanni (Crocodyliformes: Metriorhynchidae). Revista Geológica de Chile 35 (2): 335-346.
  10. Purranisaurus at Fossilworks.org
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.