Mycterosaurus
Sign in to saveMycterosaurus (Greek as mykter/mykteros meaning nose/snout, sauros meaning "lizard") is an extinct genus of amniotes belonging to the family Varanopidae. It is classified in the varanopid subfamily Mycterosaurinae. Mycterosaurus is the most primitive member of its family, existing from 290.1 to 272.5 MYA, known to Texas and Oklahoma. It lacks some features that its advanced relatives have.
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
11 sectionsContents
- Description
- Skull
- Dentition
- Post-cranial Skeleton
- Discovery
- Classification
- Paleobiology
- Paleoecology
- Paleogeography
- See also
- References
Mycterosaurus (Greek as mykter/mykteros meaning nose/snout, sauros meaning "lizard") is an extinct genus of amniotes belonging to the family Varanopidae. It is classified in the varanopid subfamily Mycterosaurinae. Mycterosaurus is the most primitive member of its family, existing from 290.1 to 272.5 MYA, known to Texas and Oklahoma. It lacks some features that its advanced relatives have.
Mycterosaurus is a relatively small carnivore, estimated to be around 60 cm (23 inches) long with synonyms of Eumatthevia bolli, and possibly Basicranodon fortsillensis. Restored, Mycterosaurus appears spindly and grotesque in contrast to the majority of "pelycosaurs" in its proportions and especially unlike edaphosaurids, which are commonly stocky in build.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mycterosaurus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.