Wesserpeton evansae
| Wesserpeton evansae | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wesserpeton evansae holotype , an isolated frontal in dorsal (left) and ventral (right) view. |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Lower Cretaceous ( Barremium ) | ||||||||||||
| 130.7 to 126.3 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Wesserpeton | ||||||||||||
| Sweetman & Gardner , 2013 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Wesserpeton evansae | ||||||||||||
| Sweetman & Gardner, 2013 | ||||||||||||
Wesserpeton evansae is a species of amphibian from the extinct group of Albanerpetontidae . It is the only species in the genus Wesserpeton .
description
So far no autapomorphies of the species are known. Instead, Wesserpeton evansae differs from all other known species of the Albanerpetontidae through a unique combination of original and derived features. These characteristics relate to the frontal bone , the intermaxillary bone ( premaxilla) and the upper jaw (maxilla), the teeth and the body size.
With its small body size, Wesserpeton evansae is similar to the species Albanerpeton arthridion , Albanerpeton pannonicum and the Paskapoo species, but differs from other Albanian peton species, Anoualerpeton and Celtedens .
Find
So far, fossils of Wesserpeton evansae have only been found on the Isle of Wight . The finds come from 7 horizons of the Wessex Formation , which is assigned to the Barremium (Early Cretaceous ).
Systematics
Wesserpeton evansae was first described in 2013 by Steven C. Sweetman and James D. Gardner . The generic name Wesserpeton refers to the former British Kingdom of Wessex , to which the Isle of Wight , where the type specimen was found, also belonged. The ending peton , which was also used in Albanian peton, is derived from the Greek erpeton and means "crawling animal". The species name evansae honors Professor Susan E. Evans of University College London for her contributions to the paleontology of small vertebrates and her understanding of the Albanerpetontidae.
supporting documents
- Steven C. Sweetman, James D. Gardner: A new albanerpetontid amphibian from the Barremian (Early Cretaceous) Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, southern England . In: Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 58 (2), 2013, pp. 295-324. doi: 10.4202 / app.2011.0109 .