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Ascendonanus
Sign in to saveAscendonanus (meaning "climbing dwarf") is an extinct genus of possible varanopid amniote from the Early Permian of Germany. It is one of the earliest specialized arboreal (tree-living) tetrapods currently known and outwardly resembled a small lizard. The animal was about 40 cm long, with strongly curved claws, short limbs, a slender, elongated trunk, and a long tail. It would have preyed on insects and other small arthropods.
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Naming
- Description
- Specimens
- Skull
- Skeleton
- Limbs
- Skin and scales
- Phylogeny
- Discovery
- Hilbersdorf scientific excavation
- Taphonomy
- References
Ascendonanus (meaning "climbing dwarf") is an extinct genus of possible varanopid amniote from the Early Permian of Germany. It is one of the earliest specialized arboreal (tree-living) tetrapods currently known and outwardly resembled a small lizard. The animal was about 40 cm long, with strongly curved claws, short limbs, a slender, elongated trunk, and a long tail. It would have preyed on insects and other small arthropods.
The taxonomic position of varanopids is currently debated between synapsids (related to mammals, the most widely accepted idea) and diapsids (related to reptiles). The fossils of Ascendonanus are of special scientific importance because they include remains of skin, scales, scutes, bony ossicles, and soft-tissue body outlines, which could indicate that some of the oldest relatives of mammals had a scaly "reptilian-type" appearance if Ascendonanus was a synapsid.