Topic
Malerisaurus
About: Malerisaurus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4 publications have been published within this topic receiving 82 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: Because Malerisaurus shows such a combination of primitive and advanced features as a diapsid skull, unossified laterosphenoid, lack of antorbital and mandibular fenestrae, slender limbs, primitive girdles, distinctive elongated cervicals and lack of dermal armour, it is assigned to the suborder Prolacertiformes of the order Eosuchia.
Abstract: Two almost complete skeletons of a new eosuchian reptile, Malerisaurus robinsonae n.sp., were discovered as the presumable gastric contents of ‘twin’ skeletons of Parasuchus hislopi . The specimens are from fluvial flood plain deposits of the late Triassic Maleri Formation of the Gondwana supergroup, India. The osteology of Malerisaurus is described in detail. Malerisaurus was a small, gracile, long-necked eosuchian, facultatively bipedal, and probably able to climb trees or to take to the water when alarmed. It is comparable to modern bipedal lizards in size, proportions and inferred activities. The skull, although showing some carnivorous adaptation, is relatively unspecialized and indicates an insectivorous diet. Because Malerisaurus shows such a combination of primitive and advanced features as a diapsid skull, unossified laterosphenoid, lack of antorbital and mandibular fenestrae, slender limbs, primitive girdles, distinctive elongated cervicals and lack of dermal armour, it is assigned to the suborder Prolacertiformes of the order Eosuchia. A classification of Prolacertiformes indicates four families within this suborder: Petrolacosauridae, Protorosauridae, Prolacertidae and Tanystropheidae. Malerisaurus is tentatively allied to Protorosaurus in the family Protorosauridae; in neither genus is the temporal region of the skull adequately known. Malerisaurus furnishes detailed information about the skeletal morphology of what may be a hitherto undocumented lineage of eosuchian reptiles.
46 citations
TL;DR: A new diapsid reptile, Malerisaurus langstoni, n.sp.
Abstract: A new diapsid reptile, Malerisaurus langstoni, nsp, from the Late Triassic Dockum Formation of Texas, was a small, gracile, long-necked animal similar to modern bipedal lizards in size, proportions, and inferred activities The skull is diapsid with an incomplete lower temporal arcade and a fixed quadrate A similar configuration of the cheek region is known in many long-necked Permo-Triassic protorosaurs (= Prolacertiformes) that paralleled the squamates in the loss of lower temporal bar without any phyletic relationships to the latter group The protorosaurs were very successful during the Permo–Triassic period, being recorded from all continents except South America The number of neck vertebrae and its length are diagnostic characters for classifying the two families of protorosaurs The family Protorosauridae (including Protorosaurus, Prolacerta, Kadimakara, Macrocnemus, Malerisaurus and the unnamed Yerrapalli form) has a moderately long neck, with 8 vertebrae The family Tanystropheidae (
42 citations
1 Jan 2010
TL;DR: The holotype of Malerisaurus langstoni from the Late Triassic Trilophosaurus quarry of West Texas is a chimera and calls into question the validity of M. robinsonae from the Maleri Formation in India and suggests that at least some of the elements referred to this taxon may, in fact, be a record of Trilphosaurus.
Abstract: The holotype of Malerisaurus langstoni from the Late Triassic (Otischalkian) Trilophosaurus quarry
2 of West Texas is a chimera. The holotype represents at least 6-7 individuals of four reptilian groups: Trilophosauridae, Rhynchosauridae, Parasuchidae and Aetosauria. The majority of the material, including all of the cranial fragments, are re-identified as Trilophosaurus buettneri. Based on the chimeric nature of the specimen, the holotype of M. langstoni is restricted to the skull fragments and considered a junior subjective synonym of T. buetterni. This reassessment of M. langstoni calls into question the validity of M. robinsonae from the Maleri Formation in India and suggests that at least some of the elements referred to this taxon may, in fact, be a record of
Trilophosaurus. This would extend the paleogeographic range of Trilophosaurus from a taxon endemic to the American Southwest to a nearly Pangean distribution during the Late Triassic.
8 citations
20 Nov 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, two anterior cervical vertebrae and the posterior portion of a hemimandible are identified as belonging to a Malerisaurus-like taxon within the Azendohsauridae.
Abstract: The Lamy Quarry (= the Gunter bonebed) is known for its extensive accumulation of temnospondyl skulls and skeletons from the Norian (Upper Triassic) Garita Creek Formation, south of Lamy, New Mexico. Although the quarry is monodominant for metoposaurids, reptile fossils are also present. The reptile material, briefly described and identified to least-inclusive taxonomic levels, consists of several diagnostic elements from azendohsaurid and tanystropheid archosauromorphs based on apomorphies observed in the fossils. The most remarkable materials are two anterior cervical vertebrae and the posterior portion of a hemimandible that are identified as belonging to a Malerisaurus-like taxon within the Azendohsauridae. The vertebrae are two times longer than the holotype material of Malerisaurus robinsonaeChatterjee, 1980 and Malerisaurus langstoniChatterjee, 1986, which suggests that azendohsaurids in the Late Triassic of North America reached much larger sizes than previously documented. The presence of a tanystropheid and azendohsaurid together supports the Adamanian age of the Garita Creek Formation and shows that azendohsaurids were present in what is now New Mexico.
4 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2010 | 1 |
| 1986 | 1 |
| 1980 | 1 |