Oryctorhynchus
| Oryctorhynchus Temporal range: Late Triassic,
~ | |
|---|---|
| |
| Skeletal reconstruction of O. bairdi | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Rhynchosauria |
| Family: | †Rhynchosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Hyperodapedontinae |
| Genus: | †Oryctorhynchus Sues, Fitch & Whatley, 2020 |
| Type species | |
| †Oryctorhynchus bairdi Sues, Fitch & Whatley, 2020
| |
Oryctorhynchus is an extinct genus of rhynchosaur from the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian)-aged Wolfville Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada that may have been the same animal as Beesiiwo.[1] The type species, O. bairdi, was named and described in 2020.[2] It was originally seen as a species of Hyperodapedon until 2020.
Discovery and naming
[edit | edit source]
The holotype was discovered in the Wolfville Formation by Donald Baird sometime between 1958 and 1963;[2] its earliest known mention is by Baird (1963).[3] Shortly after, it was informally named the "Nova Scotia Hyperodapedon" (H. sp.) by Robin Whatley in a 1984 paper published by J. A. Hopson.[4] It was briefly described by Michael Benton (1983) also as a species of Hyperodapedon.[5] It was then assigned to cf. "Hyperodapedon" sanjuanensis by Lucas et al., (2002).[6] The genus was not recognised as a distinct taxon until it was named in 2020.[2]
The holotype, NSM018GF009.012, consists of a partial jaw and several skull fragments including the rostrum and skull roof.[2][5]
Fitch et al. (2023) state that specimen NSM018GFF009.003 has "No unique support for [being] Oryctorhynchus bairdi, and [they] do not consider it a part of O . bairdi. These attributes better align with those found in Beesiiwo cooowuse... [they] suggest it is either a close relative of Beesiiwo or a member of such."[1]
Etymology
[edit | edit source]The genus name consists of the orycto prefix, which means burrow, and the rhynchus suffix, meaning snout; the full genus name means burrowed snout. The epithet honours David Baird, for his work on Triassic tetrapods from Nova Scotia.[2]
Classification
[edit | edit source]Sues et al. (2020) placed Oryctorhynchus as the sister species to Hyperodapedon and an unnamed hyperodapedontine taxon from Wyoming.[2]
Paleoecology
[edit | edit source]Oryctorhynchus is from the Wolfville Formation (Upper Wolfville Member; Fundy Basin), which probably corresponds to the Popo Agie Formation. The age of the Upper Wolfville Member is unclear; it either dates from the latest Carnian? - earliest Norian? or the late Carnian (~230 Ma).[7]
It would have coexisted with Acadiella,[8] Arctotraversodon,[9] Arctosuchus buceros (?),[10] Haligonia,[8] Scoloparia[8] and Teraterpeton.[11]
References
[edit | edit source]Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 392: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c d e f Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Hopson, J.A. (1984). Late Triassic traversodont cynodonts from Nova Scotia and southern Africa. Palaeontologia Africana Vol. 25; 181-201.
- ^ a b Benton, M.J. (1983). The Triassic reptile Hyperodapedon from Elgin: functional morphology and relationships. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 302: 605-717.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b c H.-D. Sues and D. Baird. (1998). Procolophonidae (Reptilia: Parareptilia) from the Upper Triassic Wolfville Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18(3):525-532
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ The main groups of non-mammalian synapsids at Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Lua error in Module:Taxonbar at line 165: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).