Erpetonyx

Erpetonyx
Temporal range: Pennsylvanian, 303.7–289.9 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: †Parareptilia
Clade: †Bolosauria
Genus: †Erpetonyx
Modesto et al., 2015
Type species
†Erpetonyx arsenaultorum
Modesto et al., 2015

Erpetonyx arsenaultorum is an extinct genus of bolosaurian parareptile from the uppermost or Gzhelian stage of the Carboniferous rocks. It is known from a single, articulated and mostly complete specimen from Cape Egmont, in southwestern Prince Edward Island, Canada Prince County, in the Edgmont Bay Formation that preserves fossils in the stratigraphic layer that dates back to the Carboniferous period. It is the earliest known parareptile, and brings back the origins of several clades into the Carboniferous.[1]

It was discovered by nine-year-old Michael Arsenault in 2003 who was on vacation with his family at the time.[2] It was acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) in 2004.[2] Cape Breton University's Sean Modesto, a paleontologist and expert in ancient reptiles was lead author of in a 2015 article published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society,[3] The team, which included researchers from the ROM, University of Toronto and the Smithsonian Institution, described and named the new species,[3] the first Carboniferous geologic period parareptile to be described since c. 2003.[3]:7

The name Parareptilia was identified by the American zoologist, Olson (1910-1993), in 1947[3]:3[4] and Bolosauria was identified by Oskar Kuhn in 1959.[3]:3[5] Erpetonyx arsenaultorum was described and named by Modesto et al. in 2015.[3]:3 It is the closest relative of bolosaurids.[3]:1

References

  1. ↑ Modesto, S. P.; Scott, D. M.; MacDougall, M. J.; Sues, H.-D.; Evans, D. C.; Reisz, R. R. (2015). "The oldest parareptile and the early diversification of reptiles" (PDF). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 282 (1801): 20141912–20141912. doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.1912.
  2. 1 2 Chung, Emily (13 January 2014). "Fossil found by P.E.I. boy fills gap in reptile evolution: Lizard-like animal named after Michael Arsenault of Prince County, P.E.I.". CBC News. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Modesto, Sean P.; Scott, Diane M.; MacDougall, Mark J.; Sues, Hans-Dieter; Evans, David C.; Reisz, Robert R. (14 January 2015), "The oldest parareptile and the early diversification of reptiles", Proceedings of the Royal Society, London, UK, 282 (1801), p. 9, doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.1912, retrieved 15 January 2015
  4. ↑ Olson, Everett Claire (1947). Roy, Sharat Kumar, ed. "The family Diadectidae and its bearing on the classification of reptiles". Geology. Fieldiana. Chicago: Chicago Natural History Museum. 11 (1): 1–53. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Kuhn, Oskar (1959). "Die Ordnungen der fossilen 'Amphibien' und 'Reptilien'". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie: 337–347.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/17/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.