Colognathus

Colognathus Temporal range: Late Triassic PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryotes
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Subclass:	?Anapsida
Order:	?Procolophonidae
Genus:	Colognathus
Species
C. obscurus Case, 1928[1][2]

Colognathus is a genus of extinct reptile from Late Triassic rocks of the southwestern United States. It was described in 1928 from a jaw fragment by Case, who interpreted the new taxon as a fish. The type species is C. obscurus.^[3] Approximately 25 specimens have been found as of 2007.^[2]

A great many of the reptile's fossils are from the Tecovas Formation of western Texas. Other finds of Colognathus were from places such as the Palo Duro Canyon (in western Texas) and the Santa Rosa Formation (in New Mexico).^[2] One tooth is known from the Blue Mesa Member of the Chinle Formation at Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Classification

Researchers have classified Colognathus as a reptile, although its lower-level classification remains uncertain.^[2] It is thought to be a procolophonid.^[3]

References

1. ^ http://flatpebble.nceas.ucsb.edu/cgi-bin/bridge.pl
2. ^ ^{a b c d} http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2007SE/finalprogram/abstract_119307.htm
3. ^ ^{a b} Irmis, Randall B. (2005). "The vertebrate fauna of the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation in northern Arizona". In Nesbitt, S. J.; Parker, W. G.; and Irmis, R. B. (eds.) (pdf). Guidebook to the Triassic formations of the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona: geology, paleontology, and history. Bulletin. 9. Mesa, AZ: Mesa Southwest Museum. pp. 63–88. http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~irmisr/chinlerev.pdf. 

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