Clevosaurus
Clevosaurus (CLEE-vo-SORE-us) (meaning "Gloucester lizard") is an extinct genus of rhynchocephalian reptile from the Late Triassic and the Early Jurassic periods.[3] Species of Clevosaurus were widespread across Pangaea, and have been found on all continents except Australia and Antarctica.[4] The teeth of Clevosaurus had a shearing function, and they had a strong enough bite force to crush chitin.[5] Fossils of Clevosaurus, as well as other sphenodontians, early mammals and dinosaurs have been found in ancient fissure fill deposits in south-west England and Wales. In regards to its Pangaean distribution, C. hadroprodon is the oldest record of a sphenodontian from Gondwana.[6]
| Clevosaurus | |
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| Skulls of C. brasiliensis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Rhynchocephalia |
| Family: | Clevosauridae |
| Genus: | Clevosaurus Swinton, 1939 |
| Named Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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List of species
- †Clevosaurus bairdi Sues et al. 1994 McCoy Brook Formation, Canada, Hettangian
- †Clevosaurus brasiliensis Bonaparte and Sues 2006[7] Caturrita Formation, Brazil, Norian
- †Clevosaurus cambrica Keeble et al. 2018 Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry fissure fill, Wales, Rhaetian
- †Clevosaurus convallis Saila 2005 St. Bride's Island fissure fill, Wales, Hettangian
- †Clevosaurus hadroprodon Hsiou et al. 2019 Santa Maria Formation, Brazil, Carnian
- †Clevosaurus hudsoni Swinton 1939 Cromhall Quarry fissure fill, England, Rhaetian
- †Clevosaurus minor Fraser 1988 Cromhall Quarry fissure fill, England, Rhaetian
- †Clevosaurus sectumsemper Klein et al. 2015[8] Woodleaze Quarry fissure fill, England, Rhaetian
The three species known from the Sinemurian aged Lufeng Formation of China (C. mcgilli, C.wangi and C. petilus) are considered indeterminate within the genus.[9] Indeterminate remains are also known from the Stormberg Group (either Elliot or Clarens Formation) of South Africa, dating to the Hettangian.[4]
Species
Below is a cladogram of the relationships within Clevosauridae based on the phylogenetic analysis of Hsiou et al. (2015):[10]
| Clevosauridae |
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"Clevosaurus" latidens was recovered outside of Clevosauridae, as the sister taxon of Opisthodontia.[10] It was subsequently assigned to a new genus, Fraserosphenodon, in 2018.[11]
Notes
- Emily Keeble; David I. Whiteside; Michael J. Benton (2018). "The terrestrial fauna of the Late Triassic Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry fissures, South Wales, UK and a new species of Clevosaurus (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia)". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. in press (2): 99–119. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.11.001. hdl:1983/5afdc677-3ea0-4519-813d-6052ef8370ec.
- Säilä, Laura K. (2005). "A new species of the sphenodontian reptile Clevosaurus from the Lower Jurassic of South Wales". Palaeontology. 48 (4): 817–831. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2005.00486.x.
- "A New Clevosaurid from the Triassic (Carnian) of Brazil and the Rise of Sphenodontians in Gondwana".
- Sues, H. D.; Reisz, R. (1995). "First record of the early mesozoic sphenodontian clevosaurus (lepidosauria: rhynchocephalia) from the southern hemisphere". Journal of Paleontology. 69 (1): 123–126. doi:10.1017/s0022336000026974.
- Chambi‐Trowell, Sofia A. V.; Whiteside, David I.; Benton, Michael J.; Rayfield, Emily J. (16 June 2020). Lautenschlager, Stephan (ed.). "Biomechanical properties of the jaws of two species of Clevosaurus and a reanalysis of rhynchocephalian dentary morphospace". Palaeontology. 63 (6): 919–939. doi:10.1111/pala.12493. ISSN 0031-0239.
- "A new sphenodontian from Brazil is the oldest record of the group in Gondwana". phys.org. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
- Bonaparte, J. F.; Sues, H. D. (2006). "A new species of clevosaurus (lepidosauria: rhynchocephalia) from the upper Triassic of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil". Palaeontology. 49 (1): 917–923. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00568.x.
- Klein, Catherine G.; Whiteside, David I.; de Lucas, Victor Selles; Viegas, Pedro A.; Benton, Michael J. (2015). "A distinctive Late Triassic microvertebrate fissure fauna and a new species of Clevosaurus (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia) from Woodleaze Quarry, Gloucestershire, UK". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 126 (3): 402–416. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2015.05.003.
- Jones MEH. 2006 The Early Jurassic clevosaurs from China (Diapsida: Lepidosauria). New Mex. Museum Nat. Hist. Sci. Bull. 37, 548–562.
- Annie Schmaltz Hsiou; Marco Aurélio Gallo De França; Jorge Ferigolo (2015). "New Data on the Clevosaurus (Sphenodontia: Clevosauridae) from the Upper Triassic of Southern Brazil". PLoS ONE. 10 (9): e0137523. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0137523. PMC 4565693. PMID 26355294.
- Jorge A. Herrera-Flores; Thomas L. Stubbs; Armin Elsler; Michael J. Benton (2018). "Taxonomic reassessment of Clevosaurus latidens Fraser, 1993 (Lepidosauria, Rhynchocephalia) and rhynchocephalian phylogeny based on parsimony and Bayesian inference". Journal of Paleontology. Online edition (4): 734–742. doi:10.1017/jpa.2017.136.
References
- Paleofile
- Gill PG, Säilä LK, Corfe IJ, Challands TJ, Williams M, Clemens WA (2006). The fauna and palaeoenvironment of St. Brides Island: Evidence from the lower Jurassic fissure fills of South Wales. In Barrett PM, Evans SE (eds.). Ninth international symposium on Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems and biota. pp 48−51. London: Natural History Museum.
- Jones MEH (2006) The Early Jurassic clevosaurs from China (Diapsida: Lepidosauria). Natl Mus Nat Hist Sci Bull, 37:548–562.
- Jones MEH (2009). Dentary tooth shape in Sphenodon and its fossil relatives (Diapsida: Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia). In Koppe T, Meyer G, Alt KW, (eds). Interdisciplinary Dental Morphology, Frontiers of Oral Biology (vol 13). Greifswald, Germany; Karger. 9–15.
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