Deltasaurus kimberleyensis
Temporal range: Triassic
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: †Temnospondyli
Suborder: †Stereospondyli
Family: †Rhytidosteidae
Genus: †Deltasaurus
Species:
†D. kimberleyensis
Binomial name
†Deltasaurus kimberleyensis
Cosgriff, 1965[1]

Deltasaurus kimberleyensis was a temnospondyl amphibian of the family Rhytidosteidae that existed during the Carnian stage of the Triassic. The fossilised remains were discovered in the Blina Shale formation in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia in 1965.

Taxonomy

The description of Deltasaurus kimberleyensis by J. W. Cosgriff was published in 1964,[2] nominating this as the type species when establishing the genus and providing the description for a second species, Deltasaurus pustulatus, in the material obtained in Blina Shale in the Kimberley region of northwest Australia. The holotype material is fossil material in shale of a partial skull, the skull roof and its impression with a remaining fragment of the palate, Paratypes included more fragmented material revealing other details including skull, clavicle, and jaw fossils that were also attributed to the new species.[1]

Description

A common species of Deltasaurus, smaller than the other known species Deltasaurus pustulatus, which is only known from shale in Southwest Australia. It is found with another smaller temnospondyl Chomatobatrachus halei (Lydekkerinidae), which is also common in the Blina Shale fauna, a formation at the eastern end of the Erskine Range in the Kimberley region of Northwest Australia. They have also been discovered at the Knocklofty Sandstone and Cluan Formation, fossil sites at the Tasmanian island in Eastern Australia.[3]

Deltasaurus kimberleyensis grew to about one metre long, a moderately small predator of fish, the greatest length of the skull is around 90 millimetres. A species of Temnospondyli, early amphibians with four limbs, a tail and numerous tiny teeth that inhabited terrestrial shorelines of marine environments.[4][3]

References

  1. 1 2 Cosgriff, J.W. (1965). "A new genus of Temnospondyli from the Triassic of-Western Australia". Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. 48: 65–90.
  2. ↑ "Fossilworks: Deltasaurus kimberleyensis". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  3. 1 2 Kear, B.P.; Hamilton-Bruce, R.J. (2011). Dinosaurs in Australia: Mesozoic Life from the Southern Continent. Csiro Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 9780643102316.
  4. ↑ Warren, Anne (1987). "An Ancient Amphibian from Western Australia". In Hand, Suzanne and Michael Archer (ed.). The Antipodean Ark. Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0-207-15664-6.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.