Topic
Macrocnemus
About: Macrocnemus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 24 publications have been published within this topic receiving 635 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: Extensions of the temporal ranges of several lineages of diapsids into the Late Permian suggests that more groups of terrestrial reptiles survived the end-Permian mass extinction than thought previously.
Abstract: Restudy of the unique diapsid reptile Mesosuchus browni Watson, from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (late Early Triassic to early Middle Triassic) of the Burgersdorp Formation (Tarkastad Subgroup; Beaufort Group) of South Africa, confirms that it is the most plesiomorphic known member of the Rhynchosauria. A new phylogenetic analysis of basal taxa of Archosauromorpha indicates that Choristodera falls outside of the Sauria, Prolacertiformes is a paraphyletic taxon with Prolacerta sharing a more recent common ancestor with Archosauriformes than with any other clade, Megalancosaurus and Drepanosaurus are sister taxa in the clade Drepanosauridae within Archosauromorpha, and are the sister group to the clade Tanystropheidae composed of Tanystropheus , Macrocnemus , and Langobardisaurus . Combination of the phylogenetic relationships of basal archosauromorphs and their known stratigraphic ranges reveals significant gaps in the fossil records of Late Permian and Triassic diapsids. Extensions of the temporal ranges of several lineages of diapsids into the Late Permian suggests that more groups of terrestrial reptiles survived the end-Permian mass extinction than thought previously.
224 citations
TL;DR: Previously undescribed material of Macrocnemus bassanii (Reptilia, Diapsida, Prolacertiformes) adds considerable detail to the knowledge of the anatomy of the postcranial skeleton.
Abstract: Previously undescribed material of Macrocnemus bassanii (Reptilia, Diapsida, Prolacertiformes) adds considerable detail to the knowledge of the anatomy of the postcranial skeleton. The ontogeny of the tarsus and the homologies of its constituent elements are discussed. The reptilian calcaneum corresponds to the amphibian fibulare, while the reptilian astragalus incorporates the amphibian intermedium together with additional ossification centers; the presence of a tibiale in reptiles is controversial. The tarsus of Macrocnemus incorporates the astragalus (intermedium), calcaneum (fibulare), a centrale, and the distal tarsals 4, 3, and 1. A functional analysis of the appendicular skeleton suggests predominantly terrestrial habits, perhaps even facultative bipedalism during rapid locomotion.
57 citations
TL;DR: A tentative palaeontological attribution of Rhynchosauroides tirolicus and other Middle Triassic rhyncho-suaroides trackmakers was made by.
Abstract: Rynhcosauroides tirolicus (Abel, 1926) is the first ichnite of Triassic tetrapods known from the South-eastern Alps. The recent discovery of new tracks and trackways also permits, for the first time, the documentation of trackway pattern and to calculate the dimensions and possible functional dynamics of the author of this form which appears peculiar to the upper Anisian deposits of the Southern Alps. A tentative palaeontological attribution of Rhynchosauroides tirolicus and other Middle Triassic Rhynchosauroides trackmaker suggest with some confidence, that the morphology of the trackmakers matches the structure of prolacertiform reptiles like Macrocnemus bassanii Nopcsa, 1931 if this latter is reconstructed with a not fully plantigrade manus and pes, but rather with a semi-plantigrade manus and a digitigrade pes.
54 citations
TL;DR: In the Germanic Basin carbonate tidal flats were wide-span mapped, resulting in the finding of millions of small-to medium-sized reptile tracks as mentioned in this paper, but only two medium to small prolacertilian reptiles, which were fully adapted to these environments, left any kind of track.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the first occurrence of a large tanystropheid from the Middle or early Late Triassic of southwestern China is reported, which is indistinguishable from the largest specimens of T. longobardicus from Europe, although it lacks a skull.
Abstract: The protorosaur Tanystropheus longobardicus is well known from the Middle Triassic of alpine Europe. It has been described on the basis of a number of specimens that apparently range from juvenile to adult. The largest specimens have a total body length of approximately 3 m. Here we report on the first occurrence of a large tanystropheid from the Middle or early Late Triassic of southwestern China. The new specimen is indistinguishable from the largest specimens of T. longobardicus from Europe, although it lacks a skull. Both the Chinese specimen here described and the European specimens of T. longobardicus are characterized by 13 cervical vertebrae (not 12 as had previously been assumed). The new find, together with a recent specimen of Macrocnemus from Yunnan Province, highlight shared elements of the vertebrate fauna around the coastline of western and eastern Tethys during Middle to Late Triassic times.
47 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2015 | 1 |
| 2013 | 1 |