Chigutisauridae
| Chigutisauridae | ||||||||||||
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Compsocerops |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Lower Triassic to Lower Cretaceous | ||||||||||||
| 251 to 110 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Chigutisauridae | ||||||||||||
| Rusconi , 1951 |
The Chigutisauridae are an extinct group of aquatic, medium-sized terrestrial vertebrates from the Temnospondyli group . They lived mainly in the Triassic , but have also been found in the Lower Jurassic in Australia. In 1997 even a Chigutisauridae from the Lower Cretaceous ( Albium ) was described with Koolasuchus . Also koolasuchus lived in Australia. The late forms likely survived in regions that were geographically isolated or had cool climates so they were not colonized by crocodiles .
The family was established in 1951 to classify some short headed temnospondyles from Argentina.
features
Outwardly, they resembled today's giant salamanders . Her head was broad and flat, and her large eyes were set far forward. They had large fangs in their upper jaw and were probably fish-eaters. They differed from all other Brachyopoidea by an extension of the skullcap backwards and a deep notch in the ear region.
The animals spent most of their lives in the water. The legs were relatively small and were probably only used to walk from one body of water to another.
Genera
The various genera are distinguished primarily on the basis of their skull anatomy.
- Chigutisaurus
- Compsocerops
- Keratobrachyops
- Koolasuchus
- Kuttycephalus
- Pelorocephalus
- Siderops , is also placed in the Brachyopidae family by some authors .
literature
- Michael J. Benton : Paleontology of the vertebrates. Translation of the 3rd English edition by Hans-Ulrich Pfretzschner. Pfeil, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-89937-072-0 .
- Sengupta, DP: Chigutisaurid temnspondyls from the Late Triassic of India and a review of the family Chigutisauridae. Palaeontology 38: 313-339. PDF
Web links
- Palæos Chigutisauridae