Early Jurassic Chinese lake with pliosauroids + Terastiodontosaurus, new large amphisbaenian from Eocene of Tunisia (free pdfs)
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Ben Creisler
Nov 21, 2024, 3:06:26 PM (12 days ago) Nov 21
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Ben Creisler
New reptile-related papers:
Ting-Cong Ren, Xin-Ying Ma, Qing-Dong Wang & Guang-Hui Xu (2024)
An exceptionally preserved fossil assemblage from the early Jurassic of Chongqing (China) reveals a complex lacustrine ecosystem
Scientific Reports 14: 26147
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-77084-4
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-77084-4
One of the five greatest mass extinction events in the history of life occurred at the end of the Triassic (~ 201 million years ago), as confirmed by profound loss of life in marine realm. Terrestrial ecosystems were also suffered but the extent of life loss and timing of subsequent recovery remain equivocal, largely because of scarcity of fossil record. Here we report an exceptionally-preserved fossil assemblage, Yuzhou Biota, from the Sinemurian (~ 199–193 Ma), Early Jurassic lacustrine deposits of northern Chongqing, China. The biota documents the first known trophically complex lacustrine ecosystem after the end-Triassic extinction in China, including various representative species ranging from primary consumers (e.g., ostracods, conchostracans, gastropods and bivalves) to large predators (e.g., a variety of jawed fishes and pliosauroids). The most striking feature is its diversified aquatic vertebrates; the hybodontiforms, ceratodontiforms, ptycholepiformes, ginglymodians and pliosauroids from the biota all represent their first occurrences above the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in China. As such, the discovery enriches our understanding of the faunal turnover of aquatic vertebrates following the end-Triassic mass extinction, and provides a novel window on the Early Jurassic lacustrine ecosystems.
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Terastiodontosaurus marcelosanchezi gen. et sp. nov.
Georgios L Georgalis, Krister T Smith, Laurent Marivaux, Anthony Herrel, El Mabrouk Essid, Hayet Khayati Ammar, Wissem Marzougui, Rim Temani & Rodolphe Tabuce (2024)
The world’s largest worm lizard: a new giant trogonophid (Squamata: Amphisbaenia) with extreme dental adaptations from the Eocene of Chambi, Tunisia
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202(3): zlae133
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae133
https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/202/3/zlae133/7906359
We here describe Terastiodontosaurus marcelosanchezi, a new amphisbaenian genus and species from the Eocene of Chambi, Tunisia. Using micro-computed tomography (μCT), we document the peculiar anatomy of the new taxon, which is characterized by extreme dental morphology, including one massive tooth on the maxilla and dentary, flat cheek teeth, and an array of other diagnostic features that readily differentiate it from all other amphisbaenians. We also redescribe the oldest named African amphisbaenian, Todrasaurus gheerbranti, from the late Palaeocene of Morocco, using μCT. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Terastiodontosaurus and Todrasaurus as sister taxa and provides strong support for a sister-group relationship of those two large-toothed amphisbaenians with extant Trogonophis. Accordingly, Todrasaurus shows that the divergence of crown Trogonophidae occurred much earlier than currently thought. Our survey of μCT scans reveals that Terastiodontosaurus, Todrasaurus, and Trogonophis are characterized by a great enamel thickness on their teeth, a feature that is absent in other examined amphisbaenians. Size estimates show that Terastiodontosaurus was the largest known amphisbaenian ever to have lived, with an estimated skull length of >5 cm. Based on new muscle data of Trogonophis, we estimate very high bite forces for Terastiodontosaurus, which would allow it to crush a wide variety of snails.
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Free pdf:
Ting-Cong Ren, Xin-Ying Ma, Qing-Dong Wang & Guang-Hui Xu (2024)
An exceptionally preserved fossil assemblage from the early Jurassic of Chongqing (China) reveals a complex lacustrine ecosystem
Scientific Reports 14: 26147
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-77084-4
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-77084-4
One of the five greatest mass extinction events in the history of life occurred at the end of the Triassic (~ 201 million years ago), as confirmed by profound loss of life in marine realm. Terrestrial ecosystems were also suffered but the extent of life loss and timing of subsequent recovery remain equivocal, largely because of scarcity of fossil record. Here we report an exceptionally-preserved fossil assemblage, Yuzhou Biota, from the Sinemurian (~ 199–193 Ma), Early Jurassic lacustrine deposits of northern Chongqing, China. The biota documents the first known trophically complex lacustrine ecosystem after the end-Triassic extinction in China, including various representative species ranging from primary consumers (e.g., ostracods, conchostracans, gastropods and bivalves) to large predators (e.g., a variety of jawed fishes and pliosauroids). The most striking feature is its diversified aquatic vertebrates; the hybodontiforms, ceratodontiforms, ptycholepiformes, ginglymodians and pliosauroids from the biota all represent their first occurrences above the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in China. As such, the discovery enriches our understanding of the faunal turnover of aquatic vertebrates following the end-Triassic mass extinction, and provides a novel window on the Early Jurassic lacustrine ecosystems.
====
Free pdf:
Terastiodontosaurus marcelosanchezi gen. et sp. nov.
Georgios L Georgalis, Krister T Smith, Laurent Marivaux, Anthony Herrel, El Mabrouk Essid, Hayet Khayati Ammar, Wissem Marzougui, Rim Temani & Rodolphe Tabuce (2024)
The world’s largest worm lizard: a new giant trogonophid (Squamata: Amphisbaenia) with extreme dental adaptations from the Eocene of Chambi, Tunisia
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202(3): zlae133
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae133
https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/202/3/zlae133/7906359
We here describe Terastiodontosaurus marcelosanchezi, a new amphisbaenian genus and species from the Eocene of Chambi, Tunisia. Using micro-computed tomography (μCT), we document the peculiar anatomy of the new taxon, which is characterized by extreme dental morphology, including one massive tooth on the maxilla and dentary, flat cheek teeth, and an array of other diagnostic features that readily differentiate it from all other amphisbaenians. We also redescribe the oldest named African amphisbaenian, Todrasaurus gheerbranti, from the late Palaeocene of Morocco, using μCT. Phylogenetic analysis recovers Terastiodontosaurus and Todrasaurus as sister taxa and provides strong support for a sister-group relationship of those two large-toothed amphisbaenians with extant Trogonophis. Accordingly, Todrasaurus shows that the divergence of crown Trogonophidae occurred much earlier than currently thought. Our survey of μCT scans reveals that Terastiodontosaurus, Todrasaurus, and Trogonophis are characterized by a great enamel thickness on their teeth, a feature that is absent in other examined amphisbaenians. Size estimates show that Terastiodontosaurus was the largest known amphisbaenian ever to have lived, with an estimated skull length of >5 cm. Based on new muscle data of Trogonophis, we estimate very high bite forces for Terastiodontosaurus, which would allow it to crush a wide variety of snails.
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