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Extinct genus of tetrapods From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tseajaia is an extinct genus of diadectomorph tetrapod from the Early Permian of western North America.[1] The skeleton is that of a medium-sized, rather advanced reptile-like animal. In life it was about 1 metre (3 ft) long and may have looked vaguely like an iguana. The dentition was somewhat blunt, indicating herbivory or possibly omnivory. It contains a single known species, Tseajaia campi.
| Tseajaia Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Life restoration of Tseajaia campi | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Diadectomorpha |
| Family: | †Tseajaiidae Vaughn, 1964 |
| Genus: | †Tseajaia Vaughn, 1964 |
| Species: | †T. campi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Tseajaia campi Vaughn, 1964 | |
The holotype of Tseajaia is a nearly complete skeleton, specimen UCMP V4225 / 59012, which is from the lowermost Organ Rock Shale or uppermost Cedar Mesa Sandstone. It was discovered by a field party led by Charles L. Camp working in San Juan County, Utah in June, 1942.[2] The field work and the resulting discovery of Tseajaia was recorded in a 1942 article in Desert Magazine.[3] A second specimen, UCMP V4216 / 63841, is a sequence of vertebrae from the same locality, also discovered by Camp's team.[2] Two additional nearly complete skeletons, CM 38033 and CM 38042, were later discovered in the Cutler Formation of Rio Arriba County, New Mexico.[4][5][6] The specimens from New Mexico were first reported in 1980,[7] though they have yet to be fully described.[5]
Tseajaia was named and described by Peter Paul Vaughn in 1964. The genus name comes from "Tse Ajai" ("Rock Heart"), a nearby igneous plug used as a landmark by the Navajo. The species name honors Charles L. Camp.[2] It was subsequently redescribed by John Moss in 1972. Though the slab of rock containing the tail was lost between 1964 and 1972,[8] though it was rediscovered by 1990.[4]
Tseajaia was described from a single, fairly complete specimen and was given its own family, Tseajaiidae, by Vaughn (1964). It was originally thought to be a seymouriamorph.[8] Additional finds allowing for a better taxonomic analysis indicate they belong in the Diadectomorpha, as the sister group to the large and more derived Diadectidae. Tseajaia itself being a fairly generalized form, gives a reasonable indication of the build and looks of the closest relatives of the amniotes.[9][5]
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