Gephyrosaurus

Gephyrosaurus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 195Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Rhynchocephalia
Family: †Gephyrosauridae
Genus: †Gephyrosaurus
Evans, 1980
Species: † G. bridensis
Binomial name
Gephyrosaurus bridensis
Evans, 1980

Gephyrosaurus is a genus of early Rhynchocephalia. They are distantly related to the extant Sphenodon (tuatara of New Zealand) with which they shared a number of skeletal features including a large tooth row along the side of the palatine bone (part of the palate) and posterior process of the dentary bone (part of the lower jaw). They lived during Early Jurassic in Wales, UK. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8][9] Gephyrosaurus was first described and named in 1980 by Susan E. Evans.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Evans, S.E. 1981. The postcranial skeleton of the Lower Jurassic eosuchian Gephyrosaurus bridensis. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 73:81–116.
  2. ↑ Evans, S.E. 1981. Caudal autonomy in a lower Jurassic Eosuchian. Copeia 1981: 883-884.
  3. ↑ Evans, S.E. 1983. Madibular fracture and inferred behaviour of a fossil reptile. Copeia 1983: 845-847.
  4. ↑ Evans, S.E. 1985. Tooth replacement in the Lower Jurassic lepidosaur Gephyrosaurus bridensis. Neues Jahrbuch fuir Geologie und Paliontologie, Monatshefte 7:411-420.
  5. ↑ Evans, S.E. 2003. At the feet of the dinosaurs: the early history and radiation of lizards. Biological Reviews, 78:513-551. doi:10.1017/S1464793103006134
  6. ↑ Jones, M.E.H. 2008. Skull shape and feeding strategy in Sphenodon and other Rhynchocephalia (Diapsida: Lepidosauria). Journal of Morphology 269: 945–966. doi:10.1002/jmor.10634
  7. ↑ Gill, P.G., Säilä, L.K., Corfe, I.J., Challands, T.J., Williams, M., Clemens, W.A. 2006. The fauna and palaeoenvironment of St. Brides Island: Evidence from the lower Jurassic fissure fills of South Wales. In Ninth international symposium on Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems and biota. (ed. P. M. Barrett & S. E. Evans), pp 48−51. London: Natural History Museum.
  8. ↑ Jones, M.E.H. 2009. Dentary tooth shape in Sphenodon and its fossil relatives (Diapsida: Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia). In Koppe, T., Meyer, G., Alt, K.W., eds. Interdisciplinary Dental Morphology, Frontiers of Oral Biology (vol 13). Griefswald, Germany; Karger. 9–15.
  9. ↑ http://paleobackup.nceas.ucsb.edu:8090/cgi-bin/bridge.pl
  10. ↑ Evans, S.E. 1980. The skull of a new eosuchian reptile from the Lower Jurassic of South Wales. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 70: 203–264.