Austronaga
| Austronaga Temporal range:Middle Triassic
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Scientific classification
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauromorpha |
| Clade: | †Tanysauria |
| Family: | †Trachelosauridae |
| Genus: | †Austronaga |
| Species: | †A. minuta
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| Binomial name | |
| †Austronaga minuta Wang, Lei & Li,2023
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Austronaga(meaning "southernnaga") is anextinctgenus ofdinocephalosauridarchosauromorphreptile from theMiddle Triassic(Anisian)Guanling Formationof China. The genus contains asingle species,A. minuta,known from a partial skull, as well as vertebrae from the tail and neck.Austronagawas significantly smaller than the coevalDinocephalosaurus.[1]
Discovery and naming
[edit]TheAustronagaholotypespecimen,IVPPV18579, was discovered in sediments of theGuanling Formation(Member II), which has been dated to theAnisianage (Pelsoniansubstage) of the middleTriassicperiod, nearWaina VillageinLuoping CountyofYunnan Province,China. The incomplete specimen preserves a nearly complete skullarticulatedwith the first sixcervical vertebrae,as well as sixty-fivecaudal vertebrae.[1]
In 2023, Wang, Lei & LidescribedAustronaga minutaas a new genus and species of tanystropheid archosauromorph based on these fossil remains. Thegeneric name,"''Austronaga",combines theLatinword "austral", meaning "southern", in reference to thetype localityin theSouth China Block,with "naga",referencing a water-dwelling snakelike figure in Asian mythology. Thespecific name,"minuta",references the animal's small body size compared to its relatives.[1]
Classification
[edit]Wang, Lei & Li (2023) recoveredAustronagaas a member of theDinocephalosauridae,as thesister taxontoDinocephalosaurus.The results of theirphylogenetic analysesare shown in thecladogrambelow:[1]
| Archosauromorpha |
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References
[edit]- ^abcdWang, W.; Lei, H.; Li, C. (2023)."A small-sized dinocephalosaurid archosauromorph from the Middle Triassic of Yunnan, southwestern China".Vertebrata PalAsiatica.doi:10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.231013.
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