Meridiosaurus

Meridiosaurus
Meridiosaurus
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Subclass: Diapsida
Infraclass: Archosauromorpha
(unranked): Crurotarsi
Superorder: Crocodylomorpha
(unranked): Mesoeucrocodylia
Family: ?Pholidosauridae
Genus: Meridiosaurus
Mones, 1980
Species
  • M. vallisparadisi Mones, 1980 (type)

Meridiosaurus is an extinct genus of mesoeucrocodylian that is a possible member of the family Pholidosauridae.[1] Remains have been found from an outcrop of the Tacuarembó Formation in Tacuarembó, Uruguay that dates back to the Early Cretaceous, but may also include very Late Jurassic strata as well.[2] The genus was described in 1980 on the basis of a partial rostrum that included the premaxillae and most of the maxillae.[3][4] The assignment to Pholidosauridae is considered doubtful by several paleontologists, such as R. Estes, A. Báez, and A. Mones (the first to name and describe the genus).[5]

References

  1. ^ Page 135; Origins and evolution of the Antarctic biota By J. Alistair Crame, Geological Society of London, 1989. ISBN 0903317443/ISBN 9780903317443
  2. ^ Sprechmann, P.; Bossi, J.; and Da Silva, J. (1981). "Cuenca del Jurásico y Cretácico del Uruguay". Comité Sudamericano del Jurásico y Cretácico. Cuencas sedimentarias del Jurásico y Cretácico de América de Sur, Buenos Aires 1: 239–270. 
  3. ^ Mones, A. (1980). "Nuevos elementos de la paleoherpetofauna del Uruguay (Crocodilia y Dinosauria)". Actas II Congreso Argentino de Paleontologia y Bioestratigrafia y I Congreso Latinoamericano, Buenos Aires 1: 265–277. 
  4. ^ Gasparini, Z.; Chiappe, L. M.; and Fernandez, M. (1991). "A new Senonian peirosaurid (Crocodylomorpha) from Argentina and a synopsis of the South American Cretaceous crocodilians". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 11 (3): 316–333. doi:10.1080/02724634.1991.10011401. 
  5. ^ Estes, R.; and Báez, A. (1985). "Herpetofaunas of North and South America during the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic: evidence for interchange?". In Stehli, F. G. and Webb, S. D. (eds.). The Great American Biotic Interchange. London and New York: Plenum Press. pp. 139–195. 

External links


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