Deltasaurus kimberleyensis

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Deltasaurus kimberleyensis
Fossil range: Triassic
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Temnospondyli
Family: Rhytidosteidae
Genus: Deltasaurus
Species: D. kimberleyensis
Binomial name
Deltasaurus kimberleyensis
Cosgriff, 1965

Deltasaurus kimberleyensis was a Carnian temnospondyl amphibian of the Rhytidosteidae family.

It is the most common animal fossil of the Blina Shale, a fossil deposit at the eastern end of the Erskine Range in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. A specimen has also been collected from the Knocklofty Sandstone deposit in Tasmania.

D. kimberleyensis grew to around 90 centimetres in length. It had four limbs and a tail, and numerous tiny teeth. It is thought to have been a predator of fish.

[edit] References

  • Warren, Anne (1987). "An Ancient Amphibian from Western Australia", in Hand, Suzanne and Michael Archer: The Antipodean Ark. Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0 207 15664 6. 

[edit] Further reading

  • Cosgriff, J. W. (1965). "A new genus of Temnospondyli from the Triassic of Western Australia". Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia 48: 65–90.