Biology:Orovenator
Orovenator is an extinct genus of early reptile from Lower Permian (Artinskian stage) deposits of Oklahoma, United States. Orovenator was originally interpreted as a basal neodiapsid[1], but recent phylogenetic analyses have instead placed Orovenator among earlier-diverging stem reptiles[2][3][4].
It is known from two partial skulls from the Richards Spur locality in Oklahoma. The holotype OMNH 74606 consists of a partial skull preserving snout and mandible, and the referred specimen, OMNH 74607, a partial skull preserving the skull roof, vertebrae and palatal elements. It was first named by Robert R. Reisz, Sean P. Modesto and Diane M. Scott in 2011 and the type species is Orovenator mayorum. The generic name means "mountain", oro, in Greek in reference to the Richards Spur locality, which was mountainous during the Permian period and "hunter", venator, in Latin. The specific name honours Bill and Julie May.
A 2018 redescription by David Ford and Roger Benson found that Orovenator shared many similarities with varanopids, a group of reptile-like tetrapods traditionally considered to be synapsids (amniotes more closely related to mammals than to modern reptiles). However, this proposed close relation between Orovenator and varanopids did not render Orovenator a synapsid; rather, it supported a placement for Varanopidae within Sauropsida.[5] However, a 2021 study found that the morphology of the maxillary canal of Orovenator was dissimilar to that of the varonopid Heleosaurus, which resembled that of synapsids, and instead was similar to those of other early reptiles.[6]
Phylogeny
Cladogram after Reisz, Modesto & Scott 2011:[1]
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Reisz, Robert R.; Modesto, Sean P.; Scott, Diane M. (2011). "A new Early Permian reptile and its significance in early diapsid evolution". Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278 (1725): 3731–3737. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.0439. PMID 21525061.
- ↑ Ford, David P.; Benson, Roger B. J. (January 2020). "The phylogeny of early amniotes and the affinities of Parareptilia and Varanopidae" (in en). Nature Ecology & Evolution 4 (1): 57–65. doi:10.1038/s41559-019-1047-3. ISSN 2397-334X. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-1047-3.
- ↑ Buffa, Valentin; Jalil, Nour-Eddine; Falconnet, Jocelyn; Vincent, Peggy (2025). "The neodiapsid Thadeosaurus colcanapi from the upper Permian of Madagascar" (in en). Papers in Palaeontology 11 (2). doi:10.1002/spp2.70008. ISSN 2056-2802. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/spp2.70008.
- ↑ Jenkins, Xavier A.; Benson, Roger BJ; Ford, David P.; Browning, Claire; Fernandez, Vincent; Dollman, Kathleen; Gomes, Timothy; Griffiths, Elizabeth et al. (2025). "Evolutionary assembly of crown reptile anatomy clarified by late Paleozoic relatives of Neodiapsida" (in fr). Peer Community Journal 5. doi:10.24072/pcjournal.620. ISSN 2804-3871. https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.620/.
- ↑ Ford, David P.; Benson, Roger B. J. (2018). "A redescription of Orovenator mayorum (Sauropsida, Diapsida) using high-resolution μCT, and the consequences for early amniote phylogeny" (in en). Papers in Palaeontology 5 (2): 197–239. doi:10.1002/spp2.1236. ISSN 2056-2802. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3f9d9f16-aa8b-4910-a967-9a6a645e4d74.
- ↑ Julien Benoit, David P. Ford, Juri A. Miyamae, Irina Ruf (2021). "Can maxillary canal morphology inform varanopid phylogenetic affinities?". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 66. doi:10.4202/app.00816.2020. https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app008162020.html. Retrieved 2022-08-06.
Template:Sauropsida Wikidata ☰ Q2886430 entry
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