Topic
Nicrosaurus
About: Nicrosaurus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 4 publications have been published within this topic receiving 42 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: For example, the authors reported the first Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate fossils from Lithuania: two premaxillary specimens and three teeth that belong to Phytosauria, a common clade of semiaquatic Triassic archosauriforms.
Abstract: Fossils of Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrates from Lithuania and the wider East Baltic region of Europe have previously been unknown. We here report the first Mesozoic terrestrial vertebrate fossils from Lithuania: two premaxillary specimens and three teeth that belong to Phytosauria, a common clade of semiaquatic Triassic archosauriforms. These specimens represent an uncrested phytosaur, similar to several species within the genera Paleorhinus , Parasuchus , Rutiodon and Nicrosaurus . Because phytosaurs are currently only known from the Upper Triassic, their discovery in northwestern Lithuania (the Saltiskiai clay-pit) suggests that at least part of the Triassic succession in this region is Late Triassic in age, and is not solely Early Triassic as has been previously considered. The new specimens are among the most northerly occurrences of phytosaurs in the Late Triassic, as Lithuania was approximately 7–10° further north than classic phytosaur-bearing localities in nearby Germany and Poland, and as much as 40° further north than the best-sampled phytosaur localities in North America. The far northerly occurrence of the Lithuanian fossils prompts a review of phytosaur biogeography and distribution, which suggests that these predators were widely distributed in the Triassic monsoonal belt but rarer in more arid regions.
34 citations
1 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this article, the skull of a subadult pseudopalatine phytosaur from the Late Triassic Snyder quarry, in the Petrified forest Formation of the Chinle Group, north-central New Mexico, was described.
Abstract: We describe the skull of a subadult pseudopalatine phytosaur from the Late Triassic Snyder quarry, in the Petrified Forest Formation of the Chinle Group, north-central New Mexico. The specimen is complete with minimal distortion. The squamosal bars are moderately wide, and the occipital complex is u-shaped in occipital view. The supratemporal fenestrae are laterally compressed and short in dorsal view. The skull is nearly identical in proportions to the holotype of Belodon buceros Cope. Based upon the shape and proportions of the narial crest and upon the suture patterns, we refer this skull to Pseudopalatus, not Nicrosaurus, and therfore utilize the combination Pseudopalatus buceros;
Arribasuchus is thus a junior subjective synonym of Pseudopalatus.
12 citations
1 Jan 2010
TL;DR: The first identifiable vertebrate fossil from channel-facies of this unit is an incomplete phytosaur skull preserved on a fallen block of sandstone on a cliff in the Rainbow Forest area of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The Sonsela Member of the Petrified Forest Formation (Upper Triassic) is widely exposed in
northeastern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico. Fossil wood is common in the fluvial Sonsela,
but the high energy depositional conditions appear to have destroyed all fossil bone except for small fragments. The first identifiable vertebrate fossil from channel-facies of this unit is an incomplete phytosaur skull preserved on a fallen block of sandstone on a cliff in the Rainbow Forest area of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. This cliff is "Flattops Sandstone I," which we consider to represent the upper part of the Sonsela Member. The left side of the skull, lacking the anterior half of the rostrum, is preserved in lateral view. The specimen is uncollectable, but casts are preserved at Mesalands Dinosaur Museum, Petrified Forest National Park, and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. The two most important morphological features of this specimen are: (1) the external nares are at approximately the same level as the skull deck; and (2) the posterior squamosal process in lateral view
is narrow and not pendulous. This combination of features is diagnostic of the genus Nicrosaurus. The only other published account of Nicrosaurus in North America is Nicrosaurus buceros from the Chama basin of north-central New Mexico. The common Nicrosaurus kapffi and the rare N. meyeri occur in the Norian Stubensandstein of southwestern Germany. This specimen is biochronologically sig:p.ificant as it demonstrates that the Sonsela is indeed Norian in age, as has been suggested previously. Paleobiogeographically, it is one of an increasing number of Late Triassic tetrapod taxa that were previously thought to be exclusively European in distribution (e.g., Erpetosuchus, Aetosaurus, Stagonolepis) that have now been identified in North America.
12 citations
1 Jan 1969
TL;DR: A discussion between the authors in July 1968, during which they reexamined together a part of the Wtirttemberg material, led to the following conclusions.
Abstract: Reexamination of type specimens and other pertinent material leads to recognition of three rather than two genera of phytosaurs in the Late Triassic deposits of Wiirttemberg. Valid names for these are: Belodon Meyer 1844, based upon B. plieningeri Meyer 1844 as restricted by Meyer in 1861 and 1865; Nicrosaurus 0. Fraas 1866 with the species N. kapffi (Meyer 1860); and Mystriosuchus E. Fraas 1896 containing the species M. planirostris (Meyer 1863). The authors of this note published discussions of the nomenclatorial status of the European genera of Triassic reptiles known as phytosaurs independently of each other in 1962 and 1963. They arrived at different interpretations as to how the genera Phytosaurus Jaeger 1828, Nicrosaurus 0. Fraas 1886, Belodon Meyer 1844(?) and Mystriosuchus E. Fraas 1896 were to be applied (a review of the historical development of these names is found in Westphal 1963). Gregory (1962) recognized of the named genera: Phytosaurus (including Nicrosaurus) and M1ystriosuchus (including Belodon). Westphal (1963) on the contrary considered Belodon (including Mystriosuchus) and Nicrosaurus (including Phytosaurus) to be valid. These differences of opinion were based mainly on two questions: 1) To what extent are the "Types" of Jaeger (1828) and Meyer (1844) identifiable with the genera which are recognized in the later literature? and 2) how a skull from the Stubensandstein of Trossingen is to be identified, which has been assigned by Huene (1911) and later authors to Mystriosuchus plieningeri (Meyer) (from which the synonomy of Mystriosuchus with Belodon is derived). A discussion between the authors in July 1968, during which they reexamined together a part of the Wtirttemberg material, led to the following
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2010 | 2 |
| 1969 | 1 |