Skip to content
EntityQ739142· pop 10· linked from 36 articles

Malerisaurus

Sign in to save

Malerisaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph known from Telangana of India and Texas of the USA.

Wikidata facts

Image
Malerisaurus BW.jpg
Show 2 more facts
taxon name
Malerisaurus
Commons category
Malerisaurus
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~3 min read

Article

4 sections
Contents
  • Description
  • Etymology
  • Classification
  • References

Malerisaurus is an extinct genus of archosauromorph known from Telangana of India and Texas of the USA.

==Description== Malerisaurus was a medium-sized archosauromorph which averaged 1.3 meters in length. Malerisaurus is known from the holotype ISIR 150, two articulated and almost complete skeletons which were discovered as the presumable gastric contents of two skeletons of Parasuchus hislopi. It was collected from the Lower Maleri Formation, dating to the late Carnian or early Norian stage of the Late Triassic. Malerisaurus robinsonae was a small archosauromorph, probably capable of climbing trees and swimming. The skull has some adaptations to a carnivorous diet, but is nevertheless unspecialised and probably more of an insectivore. Malerisaurus, seen as a diapsid skull, shows primitive and advanced facies in its unossified laterosphenoid, absence of antorbital and mandibular fenestrae, gracile form, primitive girdles, elongated cervicals and absence of dermal armour. Chatterjee (1980) assigned it to the suborder Prolacertiformes, which currently represents four families: Sharovipterygidae, Protorosauridae, Prolacertidae and Tanystropheidae. Chatterjee provisionally regarded Malerisaurus as close to Protorosaurus.

Available in 9 languages

via Wikidata sitelinks · CC0

Connections

Categories