Topic
Anthodon
About: Anthodon is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3 publications have been published within this topic receiving 56 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: The genus Pareiasaurus was instituted by Sir Richard Owen in 1876 for a large number of Reptilian remains from the Karroo Series of strata of South Africa, and regarded as represented by two species, which were named P. serridens and P. bombidens.
Abstract: The genus Pareiasaurus was instituted by Sir Richard Owen in 1876 for a large number of Reptilian remains from the Karroo Series of strata of South Africa. It was classed with the Dinosauria in a new family named Serratidentia, and regarded as represented by two species, which were named P. serridens and P. bombidens . Its place among the Dinosauria was held to be established by the teeth, which were compared to those of Iguanodon in their mode of implantation, and to those of Scelidosaurus in their close arrangement and nearly uniform wear, while the margins of the crown are similarly notched or serrate. The cranial characters are stated to concur with the dental characters in supporting the formation of a family in the Dinosaurian order for these fossils. Unfortunately the type-skull of Pareiasaurus serridens is now only known from a plaster cast, and by some small fragments cut from the lower jaw. The immense development of the so-called malar processes, which overlap the lower jaw and suggested the generic name, was regarded as showing a resemblance to the genus Anthodon from South Africa, and in a less degree to Scelidosaurus from the Lias of Charmouth. Regarding the fossil as a vegetable feeder, Sir R. Owen remarked that the homologous descending malar process among Mammals is found only in those types which come nearest to Reptiles in brain structure, such as Kangaroos, Sloths, and Megatheroids. In the cervical vertebrae sub-vertebral wedge-bones are found, which are likened to those which are said to occur in the fore part of the neck of Ichthyosaurs and Plesiosaurs. A notochordal canal penetrates to the centre of the centrum without piercing it, sometimes in a way almost Ichthyosaurian, but sometimes as a slender conical tube extending from the flattened articular face of the centrum. Sir R. Owen remarks, it is a trace of a lower grade of vertebral structure, and 'recalls the more widely perforated, still less ossified, centrums of the vertebrae of Ganocephalous Reptiles of the Carboniferous Series represented by Parabatrachus , Hylonomus , Dendrerpeton , c but no further suggestions are made as to the organic relations of the type.
16 citations
TL;DR: Microanatomical and microstructural aspects of osteoderms of the three pareiasaur taxa Bradysaurus, Pareiasaurus and Anthodon from the Permian of South Africa are described and a generalized mode of osteoderm formation, consistent with intramembraneous skeletogenesis, is hypothesized to be present in all pareiaaurs.
Abstract: The extinct parareptilian clade of pareiasaurs was in the past often presented to constitute a morphocline from larger, less armoured forms to smaller, well armoured forms, indicating that the osteoderm cover became an increasingly prominent aspect in the post-cranial skeleton of these animals. Here, we describe microanatomical and microstructural aspects of osteoderms of the three pareiasaur taxa Bradysaurus, Pareiasaurus and Anthodon from the Permian of South Africa. A generalized mode of osteoderm formation, consistent with intramembraneous skeletogenesis, is hypothesized to be present in all pareiasaurs. Few characters are shared between pareiasaur dermal armour and turtle shell bones and osteoderms. Otherwise, there is strong evidence from microanatomy and histology (i.e. absence of structures that formed via metaplasia of dermal tissue) that indicates nonhomology between pareiasaur dermal armour and the armour of living eureptiles. Analysis with bone profiler revealed no clear connection between bone compactness and lifestyle in the amniote osteoderm sample.
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 1 |
| 2009 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |