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Rhynchosaurs (meaning "beaked lizards") were a group of unusual herbivorous quadrupedal archosauromorphs that lived during the Triassic period. Rhynchosaurs ranged in size from the 50 cm long Rhynchosaurus to the 2 meter (6 feet) long Hyperodapedon, with the average size being 1 meter (3.3 feet). Rhynchosaurs were a widespread and worldwide taxon, being found all across the supercontinent of Pangaea. Rhynchosaur fossils have been found in Britain, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Madagascar, India, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and the United States, although they are poorly represented in the Northern Hemisphere fossil record. 15 species are currently regarded as valid, and another five are valid taxa still in need of a name. In some fossil assemblages, several taxa lived alongside one another, as evidenced by the four contemporaneous species were contemporaneous in the Upper Triassic Santa Maria Formation of Brazil. Rhynchosaurs went extinct during the Permian-Triassic extinction event that marked the end of the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic. Rhynchosaur fossils are very abundant in some assemblages (in some fossil localities accounting for 40 to 60% of specimens found) and the anatomy and ontogeny of a few species is comparatively well known. Early primitive forms like Mesosuchus and Howesia were more typically lizard-like in build, and had skulls rather similar to the early diapsid Younginia, except for the beak and a few other features. (Read more...)
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From The Fossil Wiki's newest articles:
- ... that in 2005, an Acrocanthosaurus skull (pictured) was CT scanned, proving that Acrocanthosaurus was a carcharodontosaurid?
- ... that Irritator is only known from a skull that was badly obscured by plaster which was added by the commercial fossil-collecting fossil-poachers who illegally sold it in hopes of making the fossil look more complete and valuable?
- ... that rhynchosaurs had unique teeth that were modified into broad tooth plates?
- ... that a trackway produced by an unknown crocodyliform that measured approximately 12 meters in length was uncovered in the Galve region of Spain?
- ... that Loxommatids are possibly the first tetrapodomorph group to actually spend substantial time on land.?
- ... that Zuniceratops was discovered by 8 year old Christopher James Wolfe, son of paleontologist Douglas G. Wolfe?
Paleontologist of the Month
Paul Sereno is an American paleontologist who is the discoverer of several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco and Niger. He is a professor at the University of Chicago and a National Geographic "explorer-in-residence." Sereno's most widely publicized discovery is that of a nearly complete specimen of Sarcosuchus imperator (popularly known as SuperCroc) at Gadoufaoua in the Tenere desert of Niger. Other major discoveries include Eoraptor - the oldest known dinosaur fossil, Jobaria, the first good skull of Carcharodontosaurus iguidensis, Afrovenator, Suchomimus and the African pterosaur. (Read more...)
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==Explore the prehistoric world==
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4567.17 Ma - Precambrian era - 542 Ma | |||||||||||||
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3800 Ma - Archean eon - 2500 Ma | 2500 Ma - Proterozoic eon - 542 Ma | ||||||||||||
3800 Ma - Archean eon - 2500 Ma | 2600 Ma - Paleoproterozoic era - 1600 Ma | 1600 Ma - Mesoproterozoic era - 1000 Ma | 1000 Ma - Neoproterozoic era - 542 Ma | ||||||||||
Eoarchean | Paleoarchean | Mesoarchean | Neoarchean | Siderian | Rhyacian | Orosirian | Statherian | Calymmian | Ectasian | Stenian | Tonian | Cryogenian | Ediacaran |
542 Ma - Phanerozoic eon - Present | |||||||||||
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542 Ma - Paleozoic era - 251 Ma | 251 Ma - Mesozoic era - 65 Ma | 65 Ma - Cenozoic era - Present | |||||||||
Cambrian | Ordovician | Silurian | Devonian | Carboniferous | Permian | Paleogene | Neogene | Quaternary |
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Paleontology links
Palaeos • Understanding Evolution • University of California Museum of Paleontology • The Paleobiology Database • Mikko's Phylogeny Archive • The Fossil Forum
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