Arganasaurus
Arganasaurus is an extinct genus of prehistoric temnospondyl amphibian belonging to the family Metoposauridae that lived in Morocco during the Late Triassic (Carnian).
| Arganasaurus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Temnospondyli |
| Suborder: | †Stereospondyli |
| Family: | †Metoposauridae |
| Genus: | †Arganasaurus Hunt, 1993 |
Taxonomy
The type species of Arganasaurus, A. lyazidi, was originally described as Metoposaurus lyazidi by Dutuit (1976) on the basis of skulls found in the Argana Formation of northern Morocco.[1] Hunt (1993) found the species generically distinct from the Metoposaurus type species to warrant its own genus, which he named Arganasaurus.[2]
The nominal species "Metoposaurus" azerouali Dutuit, 1976, treated as a nomen dubium by Hunt (1993), was referred to Arganasaurus by Buffa et al. (2019).[3]
Habitat
Arganasaurus is one of two metoposaurids that inhabited the Argana Basin in the Late Triassic, the other being Dutuitosaurus. Tetrapods living alongside the two metoposaurids included the allokotosaur Azendohsaurus laaroussi, the phytosaurs Arganarhinus and Moroccorhinus, the silesaurid Diodorus, the stahleckeriid Moghreberia, and the rauisuchid Arganasuchus.
See also
- Prehistoric amphibian
- List of prehistoric amphibians
References
- Dutuit, J.M., 1976. Introduction à l’étude paléontologique du Trias continental marocain. Description des premiers Stegocephales recueillis dans le couloir d’Argana (Atlas occidental). Memoires du Museum National d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Series C 36: 1–253.
- Hunt, A.P. 1993. Revision of the Metoposauridae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) and description of a new genus from Western North America. In: M. Morales (eds.), Aspects of Mesozoic Geology and Paleontology of the Colorado Plateau. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 59: 67–97.
- Valentin Buffa; Nour‐Eddine Jalil; J.‐Sebastien Steyer (2019). "Redescription of Arganasaurus (Metoposaurus) azerouali (Dutuit) comb. nov. from the Upper Triassic of the Argana Basin (Morocco), and the first phylogenetic analysis of the Metoposauridae (Amphibia, Temnospondyli)". Papers in Palaeontology. in press. doi:10.1002/spp2.1259.
