Drepanosauromorpha

Drepanosaurs are a group of extinct reptiles that lived between the Carnian and Rhaetian stages of the late Triassic Period, approximately between 230 and 210 million years ago. The various species of drepanosaurs were characterized by a bird-like skull, a barrel-shaped body, and a horizontally narrow tail. A number of drepanosaurs had specialized grasping limbs and often prehensile tails similar to those of chameleons. Drepanosaurs are generally thought to have been arboreal (tree-dwelling), and probably insectivores. Some studies have alternately suggested fossorial (digging) and aquatic lifestyles for some members. Fossils of drepanosaurs have been found in North America and Europe. The name is taken from the family's namesake genus Drepanosaurus, which means "sickle lizard," a reference to their strongly curved claws.

Drepanosauromorpha

Ghedoghedo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
DiapsidaPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Diapsida

Time the record covers

At least 21 million years on record.

The record covers at least 227.3 Mya to 205.7 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 241.464 Mya to 174.7 Mya.

Middle Triassic — about 0 of 31 occurrencesMiddle TriassicLate Triassic — about 30 of 31 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 31 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 0 of 31 occurrences243–240 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences240–238 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences238–236 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences236–234 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences234–231 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences231–229 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences229–227 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences227–224 Mya — about 2 occurrences224–222 Mya — about 2 occurrences222–220 Mya — about 2 occurrences220–217 Mya — about 2 occurrences217–215 Mya — about 2 occurrences215–213 Mya — about 6 occurrences213–210 Mya — about 5 occurrences210–208 Mya — about 3 occurrences208–206 Mya — about 3 occurrences206–203 Mya — about 2 occurrences203–201 Mya — about 1 occurrence201–199 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences199–197 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences197–194 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences194–192 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences192–190 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences190–187 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences187–185 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences185–183 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences183–180 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences180–178 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences178–176 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences176–173 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences227.3 Mya205.7 Mya243 Mya173 Mya

31 occurrences of Drepanosauromorpha on record, most of them in the Late Triassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

31 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

9 formations

Chinle — 36.33°N, 106.47°WChinle — 36.28°N, 106.57°WChinle — 34.44°N, 109.46°WChinle — 35.09°N, 109.81°WChinle — 35.02°N, 109.78°WChinle — 34.93°N, 109.70°WZorzino Limestone — 45.68°N, 9.72°EZorzino Limestone — 45.78°N, 9.82°EDolomia di Forni — 46.38°N, 12.86°ECooper Canyon — 33.52°N, 101.32°WCooper Canyon — 33.00°N, 101.15°WCooper Canyon — 33.45°N, 101.44°WLockatong — 40.81°N, 74.02°WGarita Creek — 35.28°N, 104.55°WArgilliti di Riva di Solto — 45.80°N, 9.56°EMadygen — 40.07°N, 70.18°ENugget Sandstone — 40.45°N, 109.24°W

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The named rock units Drepanosauromorpha has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Drepanosauromorpha and its relatives

Late Triassic

Where Drepanosauromorpha and its relatives were recorded in the Late Triassic.

Found in the same rock

209 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 22 sites for Drepanosauromorpha, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

20 references

Each of the 31 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 8 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Drepanosauromorpha

Credit
Ghedoghedo
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Drepanosauromorpha was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDiapsida through timeFormations of the Late TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Renesto et al. 2010