Phanerosaurus
{{Short description|Extinct genus of tetrapods}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| taxon = Phanerosaurus
| fossil_range =
| authority = Meyer, 1860
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
- {{extinct}}P. naumanni Meyer, 1860 (type)
}}
Phanerosaurus is an extinct genus of diadectid reptiliomorph from the Early Permian of Germany. Fossils are known from the Leukersdorf Formation near Zwickau. German paleontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer named the type species P. naumanni in 1860 on the basis of several sacral and presacral vertebrae.{{cite journal |last=Meyer |first=H. von |year=1860 |title=Phanerosaurus naumanni aus dem Sandstein des Rothliegenden in Deutschland |journal=Palaeontographica |volume=7 |pages=248–252}} A second species, P. pugnax, was named in 1882 but placed in its own genus Stephanospondylus in 1905.{{cite journal |last=Stappenbeck |first=R. |year=1905 |title=Uber Stephanospondylus n. g. und Phanerosaurus H. v. Meyer |journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft |volume=57 |pages=380–437}}
Description
Like those of other diadectids, the vertebrae of Phanerosaurus are very wide. The neural arches are very tall and extend beyond the centra with prominent zygapophyses projecting from either side. There are few distinctive features in the vertebrae of Phanerosaurus to distinguish it from other diadectids. One of the only unique characteristics are its shortened neural spines.{{cite thesis |last=Kissel |first=R. |year=2010 |title=Morphology, Phylogeny, and Evolution of Diadectidae (Cotylosauria: Diadectomorpha) |hdl=1807/24357 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |pages=185|type=Thesis }}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Portal|Paleontology}}
{{Early tetrapods|A.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7180452}}
Category:Cisuralian tetrapods of Europe
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1860
Category:Taxa named by Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer
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