Apachesaurus
Apachesaurus is an extinct genus of metoposaurid temnospondyl amphibian from western North America.
| Apachesaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic | |
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| Life restoration | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Temnospondyli |
| Suborder: | †Stereospondyli |
| Family: | †Metoposauridae |
| Genus: | †Apachesaurus |
| Species | |
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Description and taxonomy
Koskinonodon perfectus and Apachesaurus gregorii compared to a human
Apachesaurus was described from the Late Triassic (late Norian-Rhaetian) Redonda Formation of eastern New Mexico as a small, diminutive genus of metoposaurid. The small elongate centra were used by Hunt (1993) to consider Apachesaurus a small species of metoposaurid.[1] However, Gee et al. (2017, 2018) demonstrated that centra referred to Apachesaurus are juveniles rather than small adults, concluding that Apachesaurus specimens are juveniles, though they cautioned they could not determine whether these are Anaschisma or a distinct taxon in its own right.[2][3]
References
- Hunt, A.P., 1993, Revision of the Metoposauridae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) and description of a new genus from western North America: Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin, v. 59, p. 67–97.
- Gee, B.M., Parker, W.G., and Marsh, A.D. 2017. Microanatomy and paleohistology of the intercentra of North American metoposaurids from the Upper Triassic of Petrified Forest National Park (Arizona, USA) with implications for the taxonomy and ontogeny of the group. PeerJ 5: e3183. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3183
- Gee, B.M., and Parker, W.G. 2018. Morphological and histological description of small metoposaurids from Petrified Forest National Park, AZ, USA and the taxonomy of Apachesaurus. Journal of Historical Biology 00: 00-00. DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2018.1480616
- Branson, E.B., and M.G. Mehl, 1929. Triassic amphibians from the Rocky Mountain region. University of Missouri Studies 4:155-239.
- Gregory, J. T., 1980. The otic notch of metoposaurid labyrinthodonts, pp. 125–136 in: Jacobs L. L. (ed.) Aspects of Vertebrate History: Essays in Honor of Edwin H. Colbert. Museum of Northern Arizona.
- Davidow-Henry, B., 1987. New Metoposaurs from the southwestern United States and their phylogenetic relationships. Unpublished MS thesis, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, 75 p.
- Long, R.A., and P.A. Murry, 1995. Late Triassic (Carnian and Norian) tetrapods from the southwestern United States. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 4.
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