A new phytosaur taxon from Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, is here described based on cranial material from a single individual. This specimen previously was included in an extensive phylogenetic analysis, and it was found to possess a combination of character states that differs from all known phytosaur taxa in addition to two autapomorphies within the braincase and an autapomorphy of the mandible. The new taxon adds to the taxonomic diversity recognized from the Sonsela Member of the Chinle Formation. The continued increase in phytosaur diversity emphasizes the need to more accurately characterize and identify taxa within a phylogenetic systematic context in order to produce a more refined signal for biostratigraphic correlations, biochronologic inferences, and faunal dynamics during the Late Triassic.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 May 2012
A New Phytosaur (Archosauriformes, Phytosauria) from the Lot's Wife Beds (Sonsela Member) within the Chinle Formation (Upper Triassic) of Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona
Michelle R. Stocker
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
Vol. 32 • No. 3
May 2012
Vol. 32 • No. 3
May 2012