Biology:Prolacertidae

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Short description: Extinct family of reptiles

Prolacertids
Temporal range: Induan-Olenekian, 252–247 Ma
Prolacerta skull diagram.png
Illustration of the skull of Prolacerta broomi
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Crocopoda
Family: Prolacertidae
Parrington, 1935
Genera

Prolacertidae is an extinct family of archosauromorph reptiles that lived during the Early Triassic epoch. It was named in 1935 by the British palaeontologist Francis Rex Parrington to include the species Prolacerta broomi of South Africa and Antarctica.[1] In 1979 a second species, Kadimakara australiensis, was described from Australia .[2] Several other genera, such as Macrocnemus, Pamelaria and Prolacertoides, have also been assigned to this family in the past,[3] but these have been placed elsewhere by later studies, leaving Prolacerta and Kadimakara as the only well-supported members.[4]

The prolacertids were historically placed within the paraphyletic group Prolacertiformes along with other basal, long-necked archosauriforms like Protorosaurus and the tanystropheids. However, more recent research has shown that the prolacertids were only distantly related to other "prolacertiforms", and were instead among the closest relatives of Archosauriformes.[4]

The cladogram below follows a phylogenetic analysis by Ezcurra (2016):[4]

Archosauromorpha

Aenigmastropheus

Protorosaurus Protorosaurus BW.jpg

Jesairosaurus

Tanystropheidae Macrocnemus BW.jpg

Crocopoda

Allokotosauria Trilophosaurus buettneri (flipped).jpg

Rhynchosauria Mesosuchus BW.jpg

Boreopricea

Prolacertidae

Kadimakara

Prolacerta Prolacerta broomi.jpg

Tasmaniosaurus

Archosauriformes Meyers grosses Konversations-Lexikon - ein Nachschlagewerk des allgemeinen Wissens (1908) (Antwerpener Breiftaube).jpg

References

  1. Parrington, F. R. (1935). "XVI.—On Prolacerta broomi, gen. et sp. n., and the origin of lizards". Annals and Magazine of Natural History 16 (92): 197–205. doi:10.1080/00222933508655037. 
  2. Bartholomai, A. (1979). "New lizard-like reptiles from the Early Triassic of Queensland". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 3 (3): 225–234. doi:10.1080/03115517908527795. Bibcode1979Alch....3..225B. 
  3. Sen, K. (March 2003). "Pamelaria dolichotrachela, a new prolacertid reptile from the Middle Triassic of India". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 21 (6): 663–681. doi:10.1016/S1367-9120(02)00110-4. Bibcode2003JAESc..21..663S. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ezcurra, M. D. (2016). "The phylogenetic relationships of basal archosauromorphs, with an emphasis on the systematics of proterosuchian archosauriforms". PeerJ 4: e1778. doi:10.7717/peerj.1778. PMID 27162705. 

Wikidata ☰ Q6087775 entry