Provelosaurus

Provelosaurus
Temporal range: Capitanian
~260 Ma
Scientific classification
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Provelosaurus

Lee, 1997
Type species
Pareiasaurus americanus
Araújo, 1985
Synonyms
  • Pareiasaurus americanus Araújo, 1985

Provelosaurus is an extinct Pareiasaur genus of the Late Permian found on the road between Aceguá and Bagé in the Paleorrota, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Found in the Rio do Rasto Formation, aged about 260 million years.[1] The holotype specimen found measures 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) in length.[2]

Classification

Originally described as a South American representative of the genus Pareiasaurus, it was assigned to a new genus Provelosaurus by Lee (1997), who noted it shows more affinities with the small, highly derived, South African dwarf pareiasaurs (called Pumiliopareiasauria by Jalil & Janvier 2005 ) than with the more typical Pareiasaurus. According to Lee, Provelosaurus bridges the morphological gap between the advanced South African and the more generalized pareiasaurs. The African and Brazilian fauna is often very similar.

References

  1. ^ http://www.ufrgs.br/geociencias/paleo/pareiassauro2.html Museu da UFRGS
  2. ^ Juan C. Cisneros, Paula Dentzien-Dias and Heitor Francischini. 2021. "The Brazilian Pareiasaur Revisited". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution