Belebey

Bel-e-be.
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Claire Morris

Marine Paleontologist

Claire Morris has dedicated her career to exploring the depths of prehistoric oceans. Her fascination with ancient marine life has led her to discover significant fossils that illuminate the evolution of early sea creatures.

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Name

Belebey ‭(‬named after the location where the first fossils were found‭)‬.

Phonetic

Bel-e-be.

Named By

Ivakhnenko‭ ‬-‭ ‬1973.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Parareptilia,‭ ‬Bolosauridae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

B.‭ ‬vegrandis‭

Size

From‭ ‬35‭ ‬to up to‭ ‬60‭ ‬centimetres long depending upon the species.

Known locations

France,‭ ‬China and Russia.

Time Period

Asselian to Guadalupian of the Permian.

Fossil representation

Many individuals,‭ ‬some almost complete.

In Depth

       Belebey were bolosaurid parareptiles that lived during the early and mid stages of the Permian.‭ ‬Like other members of the Bolosauridae,‭ ‬Belebey were probably herbivores given that their teeth were most suited to processing plants.‭ ‬The type species of the genus‭ ‬from Russia,‭ ‬B.‭ ‬vegrandis could grow to around thirty-five centimetres long,‭ ‬but B.‭ ‬chengi from China may have been up to sixty centimetres long,‭ ‬though this species has only been described from the dentary‭ (‬lower jaw‭)‬.‭ ‬At the time of writing the most recent species to be described was B.‭ ‬augustodunensis from France.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬A new bolosaurid parareptile,‭ ‬Belebey chengi sp.‭ ‬nov.,‭ ‬from the Middle Permian of China and its paleogeographic significance,‭ ‬Johannes M�ller,‭ ‬Jin-Ling Li‭ & ‬Robert R.‭ ‬Reisz‭ ‬-‭ ‬2008. -‭ ‬First evidence of a bolosaurid parareptile in France‭ (‬latest Carboniferous-earliest Permian of the Autun basin‭) ‬and the spatiotemporal distribution of the Bolosauridae,‭ ‬Jocelyn Falconnet‭ ‬-‭ ‬2012.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT