Eupelor is a dubious genus of prehistoric amphibian belonging to the temnospondyl family Metoposauridae.[1][2][3] Fossils have been found in present-day Pennsylvania, within the Newark Supergroup, dating to the Late Triassic (Norian).[4]
Eupelor Temporal range: Late Triassic,
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Left clavicular plate of ?Eupelor durus seen from the outer aspect (left) and the inner aspect (right) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | †Temnospondyli |
Suborder: | †Stereospondyli |
Family: | †Metoposauridae |
Genus: | †Eupelor Cope, 1868 |
Type species | |
†Eupelor durus Cope, 1868
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Synonyms | |
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![](http://up.wiki.x.io/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/%3FEupelor_durus_%28AMNH_2333%29.png/150px-%3FEupelor_durus_%28AMNH_2333%29.png)
Taxonomy
editThe Eupelor type species, E. durus, was named Mastodonsaurus durus by Edward Drinker Cope in 1866 on the basis of AMNH 3927, a number of clavicles and the tooth AMNH 2333 (which could have belonged to a different temnospondyl apart from Eupelor), from the Lockatong Formation (Phoenixville Tunnel site) of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.[5] In 1868 Cope allocated the species to its own genus, Eupelor, based on differences from Metoposaurus (then known as Metopias).[6]
Colbert and Imbrie (1956) reviewed all Triassic metoposaurids and concluded that Eupelor should be used for all metoposaurids from North America, especially Koskinonodon (now known as Anaschisma). The authors considered the trematosaur Calamops a possible synonym of Eupelor.[7] Later, Chowdbury (1965) subsumed Eupelor into Metoposaurus along with other North American metoposaurids.[8] Hunt (1993), however, treated Eupelor as a dubious genus of metoposaurid due to its non-diagnostic nature.[9]
References
edit- ^ Colbert, Edwin Harris; Imbrie, John (9 July 1956). "Triassic metoposaurid amphibians". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 110 (6): 399–452. hdl:2246/431.
- ^ Chowdhury, T. Roy; Mahalanobis, Prasanta Chandra (1965-11-18). "A new metoposaurid amphibian from the upper Triassic Maleri formation of Central India". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 250 (761): 1–52. Bibcode:1965RSPTB.250....1C. doi:10.1098/rstb.1965.0019.
- ^ Sulej, Tomasz (2002). "Species discrimination of the Late Triassic temnospondyl amphibian Metoposaurus diagnosticus" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 47 (3): 535–546.
- ^ von Huene, F., 1921 - Reptilian and stegocephalian remains from the Triassic of Pennsylvania in the Cope Collection. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 44, article 19.
- ^ Cope, E. D. (1866). "A few observations on some of the extinct vertebrates of the Mesozoic Red Sandstone". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 18: 249-250.
- ^ Cope, E. D. (1868). "Synopsis of the Extinct Batrachia of North America". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 1868: 208-221.
- ^ Colbert, E. H. and Imbrie, J. (1956). "Triassic metoposaurid amphibians". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 110: 403–452.
- ^ Chowdhury, T. R. (1965). "A new metoposauroid amphibian from the Upper Triassic Maleri Formation of Central India". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London B. 250: 1–52.
- ^ Hunt, A. P. (1993). "Revision of the Metoposauridae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) and description of a new genus from Western North America". In: M. Morales (ed.) "Aspects of Mesozoic Geology and Paleontology of the Colorado Plateau". Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin. 59: 67–97.