Erythrosuchus

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Erythrosuchus
Temporal range: 249–244 
Ma
↓
Early to Middle Triassic
Skull of Erythrosuchus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade:
Crocopoda
Clade: Archosauriformes
Family: †Erythrosuchidae
Genus: †Erythrosuchus
Broom, 1905
Type species
Erythrosuchus africanus
Broom, 1905

Erythrosuchus (from

archosauriform reptiles from the Triassic of South Africa.[1] Remains have been found from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo of South Africa.[2]

In the Late Triassic, the ecological niche left by Erythrosuchus was filled by archosaurs including Saurosuchus and Postosuchus.

Description

Digital reconstruction of Erythrosuchus africanus.

Erythrosuchus was the largest predator of its time, and was around 4.75–5 m (15.6–16.4 ft) long.

theropod-like, reaching a length of 1 m (3.3 ft), and had sharp, conical teeth.[3]

Erythrosuchus was

squamosal, a bone at the rear of the skull. In other erythrosuchids, the margin of this bone projects backward from the skull, giving it a hook-like appearance. In Erythrosuchus, the margin is convex and lacks a hook.[5]

Discovery

Fossils, 1 and 3

Erythrosuchus is known from many specimens, most of which are fragmentary. The

paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1911.[7] The fossil material that served as the basis for the description is now housed in the Natural History Museum in London. Like the holotype, it is very fragmentary, and some specimens may even belong to the same individual as SAM 905. One specimen, known as NHMUK PV R 3592, is relatively more complete, with much of the postcranial skeleton intact.[5]

Parts of vertebrae

Early restorations of the skull of Erythrosuchus depicted it as being tall, similar in appearance to the

Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research in South Africa, has a somewhat pointed snout. Earlier restorations may have shown a deeper snout because how the bones of the skull articulated with one another was unknown then.[5] Supposed Erythrosuchus fossils reported from the Omingonde Formation of Namibia were later described as Etjosuchus, a "rauisuchian" (loricatan) archosaur.[9]

The

plesiomorphic, or ancestral, in archosaurs
. While Erythrosuchus is not considered an archosaur, it is thought to be closely related to the last common ancestor of all archosaurs.

Classification

Restoration

The hypothetical last common ancestor of archosaurs is thought to have shared many features with Erythrosuchus, many of which are found in the braincase. For example, the inner part of the otic capsule (the skeletal structure surrounding the

ossified, or completely formed of bone. Neither is the channel for the perilymphatic duct, which is a tube that leaves the lagena.[10] The lagena is the portion of the inner ear responsible for hearing, and is known as the cochlea in mammals (although in mammals it is coiled rather than straight).[11] Erythrosuchus has a short lagena, which is also expected in the last common ancestor of all archosaurs.[10]

Some features of the ankle of Erythrosuchus suggest that it was beginning to adapt toward walking on toes rather than having the entire foot placed on the ground. The ankle is similar to that of Euparkeria; the ankles of both of these animals are more advanced than those of other archosauriformes.[12]

References

  1. ^ Gower, David John (2003). "Osteology of the early archosauriform reptile Erythrosuchus africanus Broom". Annals of the South African Museum. 110 (1): 1–88.
  2. S2CID 131566599
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 1-84028-152-9
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 9781862393615. Retrieved 13 September 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  5. ^
    doi:10.1080/02724634.1992.10011434
    .
  6. ^ Broom, R. (1905). "Notice of some new reptiles from the Karoo Beds of South Africa". Records of the Albany Museum. 1: 331–337.
  7. ^ Huene, F.v. (1911). "Über Erythrosuchus, vertreter der neuen reptil-ordnung Pelycosimia". Geologische und Paläontologische Abhandlungen, N.F. 10: 67–122.
  8. ^ Hughes, B. (1963). "The earliest archosaurian reptiles". South African Journal of Science. 59: 221–241.
  9. S2CID 237402241
    .
  10. ^
    doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1997.tb03855.x
    .
  11. ^ "The Ear and Hearing (Overview)". Palaeos. Archived from Ear in Reptiles the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  12. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1978.tb01035.x
    .
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