Aenigmastropheus

Ay-nig-ma-stro-fee-us.
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Maeve Foster

Paleoclimatologist

Maeve Foster explores the Earth's climatic past to understand the forces that shaped life on our planet. Her research into ancient climate events provides valuable context for current environmental challenges.

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Name

Aenigmastropheus ‭(‬Enigmatic vertebrae‭)‬.

Phonetic

Ay-nig-ma-stro-fee-us.

Named By

M.‭ ‬N.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Ezcurra,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Scheyer‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Butler‭ ‬-‭ ‬2014.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Protorosauria,‭ ‬Protorosauridae.

Diet

Insectivore‭?

Species

A.‭ ‬parringtoni

Size

Unknown.

Known locations

Tanzania‭ ‬-‭ ‬Songea District‭ ‬-‭ ‬Usili Formation.

Time Period

Late Permian.

Fossil representation

Partial post cranial skeleton.

In Depth

       First collected in‭ ‬1933,‭ ‬and tentatively described in‭ ‬1956,‭ ‬the fossils of Aenigmastropheus were not granted their own genus until‭ ‬2014.‭ ‬Aenigmastropheus is a genus of archosauromorph saurian that lived in Tanzania during the Late Permain,‭ ‬something that makes Aenigmastropheus the first and at the time of writing only known late‭ ‬Permian protosaur from the Southern hemisphere.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬The Origin and Early Evolution of Sauria:‭ ‬Reassessing the Permian Saurian Fossil Record and the Timing of the Crocodile-Lizard Divergence.‭ ‬-‭ ‬PLoS ONE‭ ‬9‭ (‬2‭)‬:‭ ‬e89165.‭ ‬-‭ ‬M.‭ ‬N.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Ezcurra,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Scheyer‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Butler‭ ‬-‭ ‬2014

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT