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Carnian genera

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Nothosaurus
Nothosaurus ('false lizard', from the Ancient Greek and ) is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile from the Triassic period, approximately 245–228 million years ago, with fossils being distributed throughout the former Tethys Ocean, from North Africa and Europe to China. It is the best known member of the nothosaur order.
Sharovipteryx
Sharovipteryx ("Sharov's wing", known until 1981 as Podopteryx, "foot wing") is a genus of early gliding reptiles containing the single species Sharovipteryx mirabilis. It is known from a single fossil and is the only glider with a membrane surrounding the pelvis instead of the pectoral girdle. This lizard-like reptile was found in 1965 in the Madygen Formation, Dzailauchou, on the southwest edge of the Fergana Valley in Kyrgyzstan, in what was then the Asian part of the U.S.S.R. dating to the middle-late Triassic period (about 225 million years ago). The Madygen horizon displays flora that pu
Longisquama
Longisquama is a genus of extinct reptile containing only one species, L. insignis, known from a poorly preserved skeleton and several incomplete fossil impressions from the Middle to Late Triassic Madygen Formation of Kyrgyzstan. The generic name means "long scales", and the specific name insignis means "unusual", in Latin. The holotype is notable for a number of long feather-like structures growing from its back. The affinities of Longisquama among reptiles have long been contentious, with some researchers controversially connecting Longisquama and its back structures to the origin of birds
Scleromochlus
Scleromochlus (from , 'hard' and , 'lever') is an extinct genus of small pterosauromorph archosaurs from the Late Triassic Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland. The genus contains the type and only species Scleromochlus taylori, named by Arthur Smith Woodward in 1907.
Hyperodapedon
Hyperodapedon (from , 'above' and , 'pavement') is an extinct genus of rhynchosaur reptiles which lived during Late Triassic period. Like other rhynchosaurs, it was a heavily built archosauromorph, distantly related to archosaurs such as crocodilians and dinosaurs. Hyperodapedon in particular was part of the subfamily Hyperodapedontinae, a specialized rhynchosaurian subgroup with broad skulls, beaked snouts, and crushing tooth plates on the roof of the mouth.
Saurosuchus
Saurosuchus (meaning "lizard crocodile") is an extinct genus of large loricatan pseudosuchian archosaurs that lived in South America during the Late Triassic period. The first and holotype specimen was discovered in 1957 by Galileo J. Scaglia and Leocadio Soria in the strata of the Ischigualasto Formation in northwestern Argentina. The type and only species, S. galilei, was named in 1959 by Osvaldo A. Reig. Several specimens, including an adult and multiple subadults, have been discovered since.
Gerrothorax
Gerrothorax ("wicker chest") is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibian from the Triassic period of Greenland, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and possibly Thailand. It is known from a single species, G. pulcherrimus, although several other species such as G. pustuloglomeratus have been named in the past.
Stagonolepis
Stagonolepis is an extinct genus of stagonolepidid aetosaur known from the Late Triassic (Carnian stage) Hassberge Formation of Germany, the Drawno Beds of Poland, and the Lossiemouth Sandstone of Scotland. Supposed fossils from North and South America have been placed into their own genera, Calyptosuchus and Aetosauroides, respectively.
Ischigualastia
Ischigualastia is an extinct genus of large dicynodont therapsids from the Late Triassic of Argentina. It is named after its place of discovery, the Ischigualasto Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin of northwestern Argentina. Like other Late Triassic dicynodonts, Ischigualastia is a member of the family Stahleckeriidae.
Chiniquodon
thumb|left|Life reconstruction of C. theotonicus
Arctosaurus
Arctosaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph, possibly an allokotosaurian, but was often classified as a sauropodomorph dinosaur between 1900 and 1976. Although it has also been classified as a theropod, recent review finds that the similarities it shares with theropods are spread throughout several groups of Late Triassic reptiles, and so it cannot be assigned any more specifically than to Archosauriformes. Other authors have suggested trilophosaurian affinities. Based on the size of the vertebra, a size of about in length is extrapolated.
Doswellia
Doswellia is an extinct genus of archosauriform reptile from the Late Triassic of North America. It is the namesake of the family Doswelliidae, related to the proterochampsids which were more common in South America. Doswellia was a low and heavily built carnivore which lived during the Late Triassic. It possesses many unusual features, including a wide, flattened head with narrow jaws and a box-like rib cage covered by at least ten rows of bony plates.
Sillosuchus
Sillosuchus is a genus of large (femur length = in the holotype) shuvosaurid poposauroid archosaur that lived in South America during the Late Triassic period. Shuvosaurids were an unusual family of reptiles belonging to the group Poposauroidea; although their closest modern relatives are crocodilians, they were bipedal and lightly armored, with dinosaur-like hip and skull structures. Based on skull remains from members of the family such as Effigia, they were also toothless and likely beaked herbivores.
Venaticosuchus
Venaticosuchus is a genus of pseudosuchian archosaurs from the family Ornithosuchidae. Known from a single species, Venaticosuchus rusconii, this genus is described based on an incomplete skull and jaw (as well as a lost partial forelimb and osteoderms) collected from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Ischigualasto Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina, which was deposited around 230 million years ago. This fossil material has been termed the holotype specimen PVL 2578. Venaticosuchus incorporated a myriad of features present in the other two genera of ornit
Probainognathus
Probainognathus meaning "progressive jaw" is an extinct genus of cynodonts that lived around 235 to 221.5 million years ago, during the Late Triassic in what is now Argentina. Together with the genus Bonacynodon from Brazil, Probainognathus forms the family Probainognathidae. Probainognathus was a relatively small, carnivorous or insectivorous cynodont. Like all cynodonts, it was a relative of mammals, and it possessed several mammal-like features. Like some other cynodonts, Probainognathus had a double jaw joint, which not only included the quadrate and articular bones like in more basal syna
Pelorocephalus
thumb|left|Life restoration of Pelorocephalus tenax thumb|left|Life restoration of Pelorocephalus mendozensis
Ixalerpeton
Ixalerpeton (meaning "leaping reptile") is a genus of lagerpetid avemetatarsalian containing one species, I. polesinensis. It lived in the Late Triassic of Brazil alongside the sauropodomorph dinosaur Buriolestes.
Bonacynodon
Bonacynodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts that lived in what is now southern Brazil during the Triassic period (Ladinian–Carnian ages). The genus is monotypic, containing only the type species Bonacynodon schultzi. B. schultzi is known from two specimens, consisting of two partial skulls and some badly preserved parts of the postcranium. Both specimens were recovered from the Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequence, part of the Santa Maria Supersequence of the Paraná Basin. This sequence preserves a faunal association known as the Dinodontosaurus Assemblage Zone, which contains numerous other species o
Proterochampsa
Proterochampsa is an extinct genus of proterochampsid archosauriform from the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian boundary) of South America. The genus is the namesake of the family Proterochampsidae, and the broader clade Proterochampsia. Like other proterochampsids, Proterochampsa are quadruped tetrapods superficially similar in appearance to modern crocodiles, although the two groups are not closely related. Proterochampsids can be distinguished from other related archosauriformes by characters such as a dorsoventrally flattened, triangular skull with a long, narrow snout at the anterior end and
Paleorhinus
Paleorhinus (Greek: "Old Nose") is an extinct genus of widespread basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic (late Carnian stage). The genus was named in 1904 based on the type species Paleorhinus bransoni, which is known from Wyoming and Texas in the United States. Another valid species, Paleorhinus angustifrons from Bavaria, Germany, is also commonly referred to the genus. Paleorhinus had a length of about .
Compsocerops
Compsocerops is an extinct genus of temnospondyl amphibians recovered from the Late Triassic Upper Maleri and Tiki Formations of India, and the Santa Maria Formation of Brazil.
Prozostrodon brasiliensis
Prozostrodon is an extinct genus of probainognathian cynodonts that was closely related to mammals. The remains were found in Brazil and are dated to the Carnian age of the Late Triassic. The holotype has an estimated skull length of , indicating that the whole animal may have been the size of a cat. The teeth were typical of advanced cynodonts, and the animal was probably a carnivore hunting reptiles and other small prey.
Brachyphyllum
Brachyphyllum (meaning "short leaf") is a form genus of fossil coniferous plant foliage. Plants of the genus have been variously assigned to several different conifer groups including Araucariaceae and Cheirolepidiaceae. They are known from around the globe from the Late Carboniferous to the Late Cretaceous periods.
Birgeria
Birgeria is a genus of carnivorous marine ray-finned fish from the Triassic period. Birgeria had a global distribution, with fossil known from Madagascar, Spitsbergen, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, China, Russia, Canada and Nevada, United States. The oldest fossils are from Griesbachian aged beds of the Wordie Creek Formation of East Greenland. Birgeria existed throughout the entire Triassic period, from the very beginning just after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction, up to the very end with its extinction during the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction.
Candelariodon
Candelariodon is an extinct genus of carnivorous probainognathian cynodonts from the Middle to Late Triassic Santa Maria Formation of the Paraná Basin in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Candelariodon is known from a partial mandible having some complete teeth. It was first named by Téo Veiga de Oliveira, Cesar Leandro Schultz, Marina Bento Soares and Carlos Nunes Rodrigues in 2011 and the type species is Candelariodon barberenai.
Ecteninion
Ecteninion is an extinct genus of meat-eating cynodonts that lived during the Late Triassic (Carnian) in South America. The type species Ecteninion lunensis was named by R.N. Martinez, C.L. May, and C.A. Forster in 1996. The holotype of E. lunensis is PVSJ 422, it's known from a nearly complete skull of about in length. It was found in the Cancha de Bochas Member of the Ischigualasto Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina. It has been interpreted as a basal eucynodont. The holotype is in the collection of the Universidad Nacional de San Juan.
Menadon
Menadon is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts. The type and only species is Menadon besairiei.
Irajatherium
Irajatherium is an extinct genus of cynodonts, known only of the type species Irajatherium hernandezi. It is named in honor of Irajá Damiani Pinto.
Guanlingsaurus
Guanlingsaurus is an extinct genus of shastasaurid ichthyosaur from the Late Triassic of China. It grew up to in length and has a wide, triangular skull with a short and toothless snout.
Thalattosaurus
Thalattosaurus (pronounced: , from and ) is an extinct genus of marine reptile in the family Thalattosauroidea. Known exclusively from the Triassic period, it was a long shellfish-eating diapsid with paddle-like limbs and a down-turned rostrum. Fossils were recovered in the Lower and Middle Triassic Sulphur Mountain Formation of British Columbia as well as the Upper Triassic Hosselkus Limestone of California. It has gained notoriety as a result of studies on general diapsid phylogeny.
Madysaurus
Madysaurus (meaning "Madygen reptile") is an extinct genus of cynodonts which existed in Kyrgyzstan. It was first named by Leonid Petrovich Tatarinov in 2005. Madysaurus is known from the Madygen Formation, a Triassic Lagerstätte that also includes well-preserved remains of insects and small reptiles like Sharovipteryx and Longisquama. Madysaurus is one of the most primitive cynodonts and is placed in its own family, Madysauridae.
Oryctorhynchus
Oryctorhynchus is an extinct genus of rhynchosaur from the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian)-aged Wolfville Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada that may have been the same animal as Beesiiwo. The type species, O. bairdi, was named and described in 2020. It was originally seen as a species of Hyperodapedon until 2020.
Cerritosaurus
Cerritosaurus is a genus of proterochampsid archosauromorph from the Late Triassic. It has been found in the Santa Maria Formation, in the Geopark of Paleorrota, Brazil. It is represented by one species.
Arganodus
Arganodus is an extinct genus of freshwater lungfish that had a wide global distribution throughout much of the Triassic period, with a single species surviving across Gondwana into the Cretaceous. It is the only member of the family Arganodontidae, although it is sometimes placed in the Ceratodontidae or synonymized with the genus Asiatoceratodus.
Trialestes
Trialestes is an extinct genus of Late Triassic (Carnian) crocodylomorphs that lived in South America. It has been classified as a dinosaur in the past due it being adapted as a terrestrial, running carnivore. It is classified in Sphenosuchia, which were early relatives of crocodylians. Irmis, Nesbitt and Sues (2013) noted that some of the material referred to this taxon is actually dinosaurian; however, according to the authors, the holotype specimen PVL 2561, found in the Cancha de Bochas Member of the Ischigualasto Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina,
Brachysuchus
Brachysuchus (from Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús), meaning "short", and Σοῦχος (Soûkhos), meaning "Sobek") is an extinct genus of parasuchid phytosaurs known from the late Triassic period (Carnian stage) of Dockum Group in Texas, United States. It is known from the holotype UMMP 10336 is composed of a skull, lower jaws and partial postcranium and from the associated paratype UMMP 14366, nearly complete skull, recovered from the 'Pre-Tecovas Horizon' in the Dockum Group. It was first named by Case in 1929 and the type species is Brachysuchus megalodon. Its closest relative was Angistorhinus. Ho
Siriusgnathus
Siriusgnathus is a traversodontid cynodont from the Carnian channel sandstones and mudstones of the Candelária Formation, belonging to the Santa Maria Supersequence of the Paraná Basin in southeastern Brazil. It includes one species, Siriusgnathus niemeyerorum and was described in 2018. The species epithet refers to the Niemeyer locality in Agudo, Rio Grande do Sul. It was found together with various archosauromorphs, dinosauromorphs and other cynodonts, such as Brasilitherium riograndensis, Brasilodon quadrangularis, Irajatherium hernandezi and Prozostrodon brasiliensis.
Venetoraptor
Venetoraptor (meaning "Vale Vêneto plunderer") is an extinct genus of lagerpetid archosaurs from the Late Triassic Santa Maria Formation (Paraná Basin) of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The genus contains a single species, V. gassenae, known from a partial skeleton. Venetoraptor is characterized by the presence of a beak and scythe-like claws on long fingers.
Luperosuchus
Luperosuchus (meaning "vexing" or "difficult crocodile") is an extinct genus of loricatan pseudosuchian reptile (historically known as a "rauisuchian") which contains only a single species, Luperosuchus fractus. It is known from the Chañares Formation of Argentina, within strata belonging to the latest Ladinian stage of the late Middle Triassic, or the earliest Carnian of the Late Triassic. Luperosuchus was one of the largest carnivores of the Chañares Formation, although its remains are fragmentary and primarily represented by a skull with similarities to Prestosuchus and Saurosuchus.
Aetosauroides
Aetosauroides (meaning "Aetosaurus-like") is an extinct genus of aetosaur from the Late Triassic of South America. It is one of four aetosaurs known from South America, the others being Neoaetosauroides, Chilenosuchus and Aetobarbakinoides. Three species have been named: the type species A. scagliai, A. subsulcatus, and A. inhamandensis. Fossils have been found in the Cancha de Bochas Member of the Ischigualasto Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin in northwestern Argentina and the Santa Maria Formation in the Paraná Basin in southeastern Brazil. The strata date to the late Carnian
Kyrgyzsaurus
Kyrgyzsaurus (meaning "lizard from Kyrgyzstan") is an extinct genus of drepanosaurid reptile known from the Triassic of southwestern Kyrgyzstan. It was discovered in the Madygen Formation.
Diegocanis
Diegocanis is an extinct genus of cynodonts from the Late Triassic (Carnian) of Argentina. The type species, Diegocanis elegans, was named in 2013 from fossils found in the Cancha de Bochas Member of the Ischigualasto Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin. Diegocanis was classified within a new family of probainognathian cynodonts called Ecteniniidae, along with the genera Ecteninion and Trucidocynodon.
Rhadinosuchus
Rhadinosuchus is an extinct genus of proterochampsian archosauriform reptile from the Late Triassic. It is known only from the type species Rhadinosuchus gracilis, reposited in Munich, Germany. The fossil includes an incomplete skull and fragments of post-cranial material. Hosffstetter (1955), Kuhn (1966), Reig (1970) and Bonaparte (1971) hypothesized it to be synonymous with Cerritosaurus, but other characteristics suggest it is closer to Chanaresuchus and Gualosuchus, while it is certainly different from Proterochampsa and Barberenachampsa. The small size indicates it is a young animal, maki
Therioherpeton
Therioherpeton is an extinct genus of small, carnivorous cynodonts belonging to the clade Prozostrodontia, which lived in what is now Brazil during the Late Triassic. Its type species is Therioherpeton cargnini. It was named in 1975 by the palaeontologists José Bonaparte and Mário Costa Barberena based on remains collected in the Hyperodapedon Assemblage Zone of the Santa Maria Formation in the Paraná Basin.
Gigatitan
Gigatitan (from Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas), meaning "giant", and Τιτάν (Titán), meaning "Titan") is an extinct genus of titanopteran insect that lived in Kyrgyzstan during the Triassic period. The type species is G. vulgaris, described by Aleksandr Grigorevich Sharov in 1968. Fossils of Gigatitan have been found in the Madygen Formation. It is the type genus of the family Gigatitanidae, in which the closely related Nanotitan and Ootitan are also included.
Polonodon
Polonodon is an extinct genus of dromatheriid cynodonts that lived in what is now Poland during the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic. It includes one species, Polonodon woznikiensis, which is known only from isolated teeth.
Leptosuchus
Leptosuchus (from Ancient Greek λεπτός (leptós), meaning "thin", and Σοῦχος (Soûkhos), meaning "Sobek") is an extinct genus of leptosuchomorph parasuchid phytosaurs with a complex taxonomical history. Fossils have been found from the Dockum Group and lower Chinle Formation outcropping in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, United States, and date back to the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic.
Raibliania
Raibliania is an extinct genus of tanystropheid archosauromorph discovered in the Calcare del Predil Formation in Italy. It lived during the Carnian stage of the Late Triassic and it was related to Tanystropheus. Raibliania is distinct from Tanystropheus due to some distinct features of the cervical vertebrae and teeth. The type species is Raibliania calligarisi, named in 2020. The holotype (MFSN 27532) consists of a partial post-cranial skeleton, with the known elements including vertebrae (sacral, cervical and dorsal; sans caudal), a single tooth, several ribs, gastralia and parts of the pel
Pseudotherium
Pseudotherium ("false beast") is an extinct genus of prozostrodontian cynodonts from the Late Triassic of Argentina. It contains one species, P. argentinus, which was first described in 2019 from remains found in the La Peña Member of the Ischigualasto Formation in the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin.
Alemoatherium
Alemoatherium is an extinct genus of prozostrodontian cynodont which lived in the Late Triassic of Brazil. It contains a single species, A. huebneri, named in 2017 by Agustín Martinelli and colleagues. The genus is based on UFSM 11579b, a left lower jaw (dentary) found in the Alemoa Member of the Santa Maria Formation, preserving the late Carnian-age Hyperodapedon Assemblage Zone. Alemoatherium was among the smallest species of cynodonts found in the rich synapsid fauna of the Santa Maria Formation. Its blade-like four-cusped postcanine teeth show many similarities with those of dromatheriids,
Santacruzgnathus
Santacruzgnathus is an extinct genus of small cynodonts from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Santacruzodon Assemblage Zone of Brazil. It contains one species, S. abdalai. Santacruzgnathus is known from a single partial lower jaw with four postcanine teeth, only one of which is well-preserved. Some features of the specimen, including the slender shape of the jaw and the incipiently double-rooted teeth, indicate that the animal was an early member of Prozostrodontia, a group that includes mammals and their close relatives.
Plagiostoma
genus of molluscs (fossil)
Tanytrachelos
left|thumb|198x198px|A "type A" Tanytrachelos, believed to be a female.
Madygenerpeton
Madygenerpeton is an extinct genus of chroniosuchid reptiliomorph from the Late Triassic Madygen Formation of Kyrgyzstan. It was first named by paleontologists Rainer R. Schoch, Sebastian Voigt and Michael Buchwitz in 2010 from a nearly complete skull and associated osteoderms. The type species is M. pustulatus.
Dagasuchus
Dagasuchus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian archosaur from the Late Triassic (Carnian) of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, represented by the type species Dagasuchus santacruzensis. D. santacruzensis was named in 2015 on the basis of specimen UFRGS-PV-1244-T and UFRGS-PV-1245-T, a partial hip (one ilium and a pair of ischia) found in an exposure of the Santa Maria Formation in the Paraná Basin, near the city of Santa Cruz do Sul. Dagasuchus is an early member of a large evolutionary group called Loricata, which originated in the Triassic and includes modern crocodylians and their ancestors. Feat
Ptychoceratodus
Ptychoceratodus is an extinct genus of lungfish living from Early Triassic to Middle Jurassic. It was established by Otto Jaekel for one species (P. runcinatus), transferred from Ceratodus genus. Type species is P. serratus from the Middle Triassic of Switzerland and Germany. Ptychoceratodus had two pairs of massive dental plates, bearing 4-6 acute ridges. Its skull roof was composed from massive, plate-like bones. In the central part of skull roof was localized an unossified fenestra. Most of the Ptychoceratodus findings are isolated dental plates, some associated with jaws. Other parts of sk
Gornogomphodon caffii
Gornogomphodon is an extinct genus of cynodonts from the Gorno Formation of Bergamo, Italy. It existed during the Middle Carnian age of the Late Triassic (around 216.5 to 228.0 million years ago). It contains only one species: Gornogomphodon caffi.