Topic
Owenetta
About: Owenetta is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 9 publications have been published within this topic receiving 519 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: New specimens of the small reptile Owenetta from the Upper Permian and Lower Triassic sediments of South Africa provide strong evidence that a group of primitive amniotes, the procolophonids, are the closest sister-group of turtles.
Abstract: THE origin and relationships of turtles have fascinated and puzzled generations of palaeontologists. Among living amniotes only turtles, crocodiles and mammals have substantial fossil records, extending into the Triassic (200 Myr). These vertebrates have attracted much attention and the broader aspects of crocodilian and mammalian evolutionary relationships are relatively well known. Therefore, it is surprising that the origins and relationships of the Testudines have remained unresolved. Numerous groups of extinct tetrapods1–7have been cited as possible turtle relatives, including the Captorhinidae8–12. New specimens of the small reptile Owenetta from the Upper Permian and Lower Triassic sediments of South Africa provide strong evidence that a group of primitive amniotes, the procolophonids, are the closest sister-group of turtles.
126 citations
1 Jan 2002
TL;DR: The anatomy of a new species of Owenetta, O. kitchingorum, from the Early Triassic is described here on the basis of three nearly complete skeletons, and controversies surrounding parareptilian phylogeny are discussed as they relate to Owenetta.
Abstract: The parareptile Owenetta rubidgei is known from several skulls, all found in Upper Permian sediments of South Africa. The anatomy of a new species of Owenetta, 0. kitchingorum, from the Early Triassic is described here on the basis of three nearly complete skeletons. This new species is distinguished from 0. rubidgei on the basis of three dental and three cranial features. Postcranial features cannot be used in the diagnosis because the postcranial anatomy of 0. rubidgei is unknown. The small parareptile Barasaurus from the Late Permian of Madagascar and Owenetta are united in the clade Owenettidae, as the sister-taxon of Procolophonidae. Controversies surrounding par- areptilian phylogeny are discussed as they relate to Owenetta.
82 citations
TL;DR: The parareptile Owenetta rubidgei is known from several skulls, all found in Upper Permian sediments of South Africa as discussed by the authors, and the anatomy of a new species of Owenetta, O. kitchingorum, from the Early Triassic is described here on the basis of three nearly complete skeletons.
Abstract: The parareptile Owenetta rubidgei is known from several skulls, all found in Upper Permian sediments of South Africa. The anatomy of a new species of Owenetta, O. kitchingorum, from the Early Triassic is described here on the basis of three nearly complete skeletons. This new species is distinguished from O. rubidgei on the basis of three dental and three cranial features. Postcranial features cannot be used in the diagnosis because the postcranial anatomy of O. rubidgei is unknown. The small parareptile Barasaurus from the Late Permian of Madagascar and Owenetta are united in the clade Owenettidae, as the sister-taxon of Procolophonidae. Controversies surrounding parareptilian phylogeny are discussed as they relate to Owenetta.
78 citations
TL;DR: A phylogenetic analysis identifies Coletta as the sister taxon of the clade Procolophonidae, and suggests that Procolophonoidea originated and diversified initially in Gondwana during the Permian, prior to ProColophonidae achieving a cosmopolitan distribution in the succeeding Triassic.
Abstract: The skeletal structure of Coletta seca, a small procolophonoid reptile from the Lower Triassic Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone of South Africa, is reconsidered in light of descriptions of other procolophonoids. The presence of a single row of relatively large, fang–like vomerine teeth, identified originally as the single autapomorphy of this taxon, is reinterpreted as two rows of parachoanal vomerine teeth that are similar in organization to those of coeval procolophonids from Russia. Coletta is distinguished from other procolophonoids by a complex tongue–and–groove suture between the anterolateral margin of the parietal and the posterolateral edge of the postfrontal, and by a transversely broad interpterygoid vacuity. The postfrontal in Coletta retains contact with the postorbital, as in basal taxa such as Owenetta, but it is restricted to the orbital margin, as in Procolophon and all other procolophonids. A phylogenetic analysis identifies Coletta as the sister taxon of the clade Procolophonidae. This phylogenetic position suggests that Procolophonoidea originated and diversified initially in Gondwana during the Permian, prior to Procolophonidae achieving a cosmopolitan distribution in the succeeding Triassic.
32 citations
TL;DR: A new procolophonid reptile from the Lower Triassic Arcadia Formation of Queensland, Australia is described on the basis of abundant cranial and postcranial remains, and its dentition suggests good capabilities of oral processing and shows instances of replacement.
21 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2006 | 1 |
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2002 | 3 |
| 2001 | 1 |
| 1997 | 1 |