Meridiosaurus (original) (raw)

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Extinct genus of reptiles

_Meridiosaurus_Temporal range: Kimmeridgian~150–145.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Subclass: Diapsida
Infraclass: Archosauromorpha
(unranked): Crurotarsi
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
(unranked): Mesoeucrocodylia
Family: ?Pholidosauridae
Genus: MeridiosaurusMones 1980
Species
M. vallisparadisi Mones 1980 (type)

Meridiosaurus is an extinct genus of mesoeucrocodylian that is a possible member of the family Pholidosauridae.[1] Remains have been found in the Late Jurassic Tacuarembó Formation in Tacuarembó, Uruguay.[2] The genus was described in 1980 on the basis of a partial rostrum that included the premaxillae and most of the maxillae.[3][4] The assignment to Pholidosauridae is considered doubtful by some authors, but a 2011 redescription and phylogenetic analysis confirmed the pholidosaurid classification of Meridiosaurus.[5][6]

  1. ^ Page 135; Origins and evolution of the Antarctic biota By J. Alistair Crame, Geological Society of London, 1989. ISBN 0903317443/ISBN 9780903317443
  2. ^ Sprechmann, P.; Bossi, J.; Da Silva, J. (1981). "Cuenca del Jurásico y Cretácico del Uruguay". Comité Sudamericano del Jurásico y Cretácico. Cuencas sedimentarias del Jurásico y Cretácico de América de Sur, Buenos Aires. 1: 239–270.
  3. ^ Mones, A. (1980). "Nuevos elementos de la paleoherpetofauna del Uruguay (Crocodilia y Dinosauria)". Actas II Congreso Argentino de Paleontologia y Bioestratigrafia y I Congreso Latinoamericano, Buenos Aires. 1: 265–277.
  4. ^ Gasparini, Z.; Chiappe, L. M.; Fernandez, M. (1991). "A new Senonian peirosaurid (Crocodylomorpha) from Argentina and a synopsis of the South American Cretaceous crocodilians". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 11 (3): 316–333. doi:10.1080/02724634.1991.10011401.
  5. ^ Estes, R.; Báez, A. (1985). "Herpetofaunas of North and South America during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic: evidence for interchange?". In Stehli, F. G.; Webb, S. D. (eds.). The Great American Biotic Interchange. London and New York: Plenum Press. pp. 139–195.
  6. ^ Fortier, D., Perea, D. and Schultz, C. (2011), Redescription and phylogenetic relationships of Meridiosaurus vallisparadisi, a pholidosaurid from the Late Jurassic of Uruguay. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 163: S257–S272. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00722.x