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A brand-new genus and types of proterochampsid archosauriform has actually been recognized from a practically total fossilized hindlimb discovered in southern Brazil.
Creative representation of a Middle-Late Triassic landscape of southern Brazil portraying 2 people of the proterochampsid archosauriform Retymaijychampsa beckerorumImage credit: Caio Fantini.
Retymaijychampsa beckerorum wandered our world throughout the Late Triassic date, some 237 million years earlier.
The ancient reptile belonged to Proterochampsidae, a big group of meat-eating archosauriforms that were endemic to South America.
They had dermal armor and long, crocodile-like skull, and probably filled an eco-friendly specific niche comparable to contemporary crocodiles.
“The Triassic duration experienced the introduction and termination of various groups of reptiles, consisting of the Proterochampsidae,” stated Dr. Rodrigo Müller, a paleontologist with the Centro de Apoio à Pesquisa Paleontológica da Quarta Colônia at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria.
“Although this clade was formerly thought about endemic to South America, current phylogenetic examinations suggest a wider geographical circulation.”
“The earliest recognized proterochampsids have actually been discovered in the Ladinian/lower Carnian deposits of Argentina and Brazil, whereas the most current records originate from the upper Carnian/lower Norian in the exact same area.”
“Phylogenetic analyses put Proterochampsidae within Proterochampsia, a clade of archosauriforms that is the sister-group to Archosauria.”
“Because of its affinities, the clade is especially essential for comprehending the early development of archosaurs,” he included.
“In addition, proterochampsids progressed a reasonably varied selection of body strategies, with some kinds displaying putative semi-aquatic adjustments, whereas others were adjusted to a terrestrial lifestyle.”
The holotype fossil of Retymaijychampsa beckerorum was excavated at the Linha Várzea 2 (Becker) website of the Santa Maria Formation in the town of Paraíso do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
“The specimen includes a nearly total and articulated hindlimb, making it among the couple of specimens with these bones maintained from Brazil,” Dr. Müller stated.
The discovery of Retymaijychampsa beckerorum partly fills a long ghost family tree extending from the Middle Triassic to the early Late Triassic.
Retymaijychampsa beckerorum represents the 2nd proterochampsid from the Pinheiros-Chiniquá Sequence of Brazil and makes up among the earliest proterochampsids worldwide,” the paleontologist stated.
“It has a diagnostic set of hindlimb qualities and is phylogenetically near Proterochampsa, partly filling a ghost family tree of proterochampids more carefully associated to Proterochampsa than to Rhadinosuchinae.”
“Finally, the co-occurrence of Retymaijychampsa beckerorum and Pinheirochampsa rodriguesi offers additional assistance for the concept of high ecomorphological variety amongst proterochampsians in Middle to early Late Triassic environments.”
A paper about the discovery was released online in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
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R.T. Müller. 2025. A brand-new proterochampsid archosauriform from the Middle-Upper Triassic of Southern Brazil. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 70 (1 ): 7-16; doi: 10.4202/ app.01204.2024
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