Parotosuchus

Parotosuchus is an extinct genus of capitosaurian temnospondyls within the family Mastodonsauridae. Fossils are known from the Early Triassic of Europe, Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. It was about 2 metres (6.6 ft) long and likely lived in aquatic environments such as lakes and rivers. Parotosuchus was covered in a scaly skin, unlike the smooth skin of modern-day amphibians, and probably moved with an eel-like motion in the water.^[2]

Life restoration of P. orenburgensis

Life restoration of P. nasutus

Parotosuchus Temporal range: Early Triassic PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Skull impression of P. nasutus in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Temnospondyli
Suborder:	†Stereospondyli
Clade:	†Capitosauria
Family:	†Mastodonsauridae
Genus:	†Parotosuchus Otschev and Shishkin, 1968
Species
†P. nasutus (Meyer, 1858) †P. helgolandicus (Schröder, 1913) †P. haughtoni (Broili & Schröder, 1937) †P. orenburgensis (Konzhukova, 1965) †P. orientalis (Otschev, 1966) †P. panteleevi (Otschev, 1966) †P. ptaszynskii Sulej and Niedźwiedzki, 2013 †P. sequester Lozovsky & Shishkin, 1974 †P. speleus Mikhail A. Shishkin and Tomasz Sulej, 2009[1] †P. komiensis Novikov, 1986
Synonyms
Archotosaurus Patton, 1976

Parotosuchus was originally named Parotosaurus. However, the name Parotosaurus was preoccupied by a genus of skinks,^[3] and in 1968 the name Parotosuchus was proposed as a replacement.^[4] The name Archotosaurus was also proposed as a replacement name in 1976,^[5] although the author who proposed this was unaware that Parotosuchus was already in use. Because the name Parotosuchus was erected earlier than Archotosaurus, it has priority.^[6]

Phylogeny

Parotosuchus in a cladogram after Novikov (2018) with only Early Triassic Eastern Europe taxa included:^[7]

Temnospondyli	Luzocephalus Capitosauridae Samarabatrachus Poryolosuchus Parotosuchus Selenocara Wetlugasaurus Vladlenosaurus Qantas Trematosauridae Prothoosuchus Thoosuchus Trematotegmen Angusaurus Inflectosaurus Trematosaurus Syrtosuchus Benthosuchus Yarengiidae Vyborosaurus Yarengia Benthosuchidae Qantasidae Lydekkerinidae

References

1. Mikhail A. Shishkin; Tomasz Sulej (2009). "The Early Triassic temnospondyls of the Czatkowice 1 tetrapod assemblage" (PDF). Paleontologica Polonica. 65: 31–77.
2. Yahoo News: Antarctic fossil prompts rethink about amphibian history
3. Linkem, C.W.; Diesmos, A.C.; Brown, R.M. (2010). "A new species of scincid lizard (genus Sphenomorphus) from Palawan Island, Philippines" (PDF). Herpetologica. 66 (1): 67–79. doi:10.1655/08-074.1. S2CID 17889198. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-01-15.
4. Kalandadze, N.N.; Ochev, V.G.; Tatarinov, L.P.; Chudinov, P.K.; Shishkin, M.A. (1968). "Catalogue of Permian and Triassic tetrapods of the U.S.S.R.". Upper Paleozoic and Mesozoic Amphibians and Reptiles of the U.S.S.R. Moscow: Nauka. pp. 72–79.
5. Patton, R.L. (1976). "A replacement name for Parotosuchus Jaekel (Amphibia: Labyrinthodontia)" (PDF). Palaeontology. 19 (2): 415–416.^{[permanent dead link]}
6. Damiani, R. J. (2002). "Parotosuchus (Amphibia, Temnospondyli) from the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (Early Triassic) of South Africa: Cranial morphology and relationships". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 25 (4): 351–379. doi:10.1080/03115510108619226. S2CID 128483774.
7. Novikov A.V. (2018). Early Triassic amphibians of Eastern Europe: evolution of dominant groups and peculiarities of changing communities (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: RAS. p. 138. ISBN 978-5-906906-71-7. "Archive copy" (PDF). December 8, 2023.

Further reading

• Parotosuchus (Temnospondyli: Mastodonsauridae) from the Triassic of Antarctica. Christian A. Sidor, J. Sebastien Steyer and Ross Damiani, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 2007, 27(1):232–235

• Paleontology portal