Name:
Microposaurus
(small face lizard).
Phonetic: My-kro-poe-sore-us.
Named By: Sidney H. Houghton - 1925.
Classification: Chordata, Amphibia,
Temnospondyli, Stereospondyli, Trematosauridae, Trematosaurinae.
Species: M. casei (type),
M. averyi.
Diet: Piscivore/Carnivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Australia - Ashfield Shale
Formation. South Africa - Burgersdorp Formation.
Time period: Anisian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Partial skulls and post
cranial remains.
Microposaurus is a genus of stereospondyl amphibian that lived during the early Triassic. For a long time Microposaurus fossils were only known from South Africa, but in 2012 a description of Microposaurus fossils from Australia was published. This also saw the creation of a second Microposaurus species, M. averyi. Fossil remains from Jordan have also been interpreted as being very similar to the known remains of Microposaurus.
Further reading
- Investigations in South African fossil reptiles and amphibians
(Part 13). Annals of the South African Museum 22:227-261 -
Sidney H. Houghton - 1925.
- Cranial anatomy and relationships of Microposaurus casei,
a
temnospondyl from the MiddleTriassic of South Africa - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology, 24(3): 533–541 - Ross Damani
- 2004.
- A trematosauroid temnospondyl from the Middle Triassic of Jordan
- Fossil Record 14 (2): 119–127 - R. R. Schoch
- 2011.
- The South African stereospondyl Microposaurus
from the Middle
Triassic of the Sydney Basin, Australia. - Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology 32(3):538-544 - A. Warren - 2012.