Apachesaurus
Name:
Apachesaurus
(Apache lizard).
Phonetic: Ah-pah-chee-sore-us.
Named By: A. P. Hunt - 1993.
Classification: Chordata, Amphibia,
Temnospondyli, Stereospondyli, Metoposauridae.
Species: A. gregorii (type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Around 43 centimetres long.
Known locations: USA, including Arizona -
Chinle Formation, New Mexico - Bluewater Creek Formation, Bull
Canyon Formation, Redonda Formation, Santa Rosa Formation, Sloan
Canyon Formation, and Texas - Cooper Canyon Formation.
Time period: Carnian to Rhaetian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Multiple individuals.
Apachesaurus
was a member of the Metoposauridae group of temnospondyl amphibians,
though one that was particularly small. The larger close relatives
of Apachesaurus include Metoposaurus
and Koskinonodon
which could grow
up to two and a half to three meters long. Apachesaurus
however grew
only to around just over forty centimetres long.
Due
to the smaller size, Apachesaurus were probably
predators of smaller
aquatic organisms. Like other related genera, the eyes were placed
further forward on the skull that those of other temnospondyl
amphibians. Fossils of Apachesaurus are
particularly well known from
the states of Arizona and New Mexico where individuals have been found
in concentrations. This seems to be a recurring theme that
Apachesaurus shares with its relative genera, and
the explanation is
that metoposaurids were not very good at walking on land, so when
pools of water and rivers dried out, they were left exposed to the
air where they too dried out and died from lack of water.
Further reading
- Revision of the Metoposauridae (Amphibia: Temnospondyli) and
description of a new genus from Western North America - A. P.
Hunt - 1993.
- Late Triassic (Carnian and Norian) tetrapods from the
southwestern United States - R. A. Long & P. A.
Murry - 1995.
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