Oryctorhynchus
Temporal range: Late Triassic,
~
Skeletal reconstruction of O. bairdi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Order: †Rhynchosauria
Family: †Rhynchosauridae
Subfamily: †Hyperodapedontinae
Genus: †Oryctorhynchus
Sues, Fitch & Whatley, 2020
Type species
†Oryctorhynchus bairdi
Sues, Fitch & Whatley, 2020

Oryctorhynchus is an extinct genus of rhynchosaur from the Late Triassic (Carnian-Norian)-aged Wolfville Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada that may have been the same animal as Beesiiwo.[1] The type species, O. bairdi, was named and described in 2020.[2] It was originally seen as a species of Hyperodapedon until 2020.

Discovery and naming

Left dentary of O. bairdi in A, lateral, B, medial, and C, dorsal views

The holotype was discovered in the Wolfville Formation by Donald Baird; its earliest known mention is by Baird (1963).[3] Shortly after, it was informally named the "Nova Scotia Hyperodapedon" (H. sp.) by Robin Whatley in a 1984 paper published by J. A. Hopson.[4] It was briefly described by Michael Benton (1983) also as a species of Hyperodapedon.[5] It was then assigned to cf. "Hyperodapedon" sanjuanensis by Lucas et al., (2002).[6] The genus was not recognised as a distinct taxon until it was named in 2020.[2]

The holotype, NSM018GF009.012, consists of a partial jaw and several skull fragments including the rostrum and skull roof.[2][5]

Fitch et al. (2023) state that specimen NSM018GFF009.003 has "No unique support for [being] Oryctorhynchus bairdi, and [they] do not consider it a part of O . bairdi. These attributes better align with those found in Beesiiwo cooowuse... [they] suggest it is either a close relative of Beesiiwo or a member of such."[1]

Etymology

The genus name consists of the orycto prefix, which means burrow, and the rhynchus suffix, meaning snout; the full genus name means burrowed snout. The epithet honours David Baird, for his work on Triassic tetrapods from Nova Scotia.[2]

Classification

Sues et al. (2020) placed Oryctorhynchus as the sister species to Hyperodapedon and an unnamed hyperodapedontine taxon from Wyoming.[2]

Paleoecology

Oryctorhynchus is from the Wolfville Formation (Upper Wolfville Member; Fundy Basin), which probably corresponds to the Popo Agie Formation. The age of the Upper Wolfville Member is unclear; it either dates from the latest Carnian? - earliest Norian? or the late Carnian (~230 Ma).[7]

It would have coexisted with Acadiella,[8] Arctotraversodon,[9] Arctosuchus buceros (?),[10] Haligonia,[8] Scoloparia[8] and Teraterpeton.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 Fitch, Adam; Haas, Merle; C'Hair, Wayne; Ridgley, Eugene; Ridgley, Ben; Oldman, Devin; Reynolds, Crystal; Lovelace, David (10 April 2023). "A New Rhynchosaur Taxon from the Popo Agie Formation, WY: Implications for a Northern Pangean Early-Late Triassic (Carnian) Fauna". Diversity. 15 (4): 544. doi:10.3390/d15040544. hdl:10919/114487.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Hans-Dieter Sues; Adam J. Fitch; Robin L. Whatley (2020). "A new rhynchosaur (Reptilia, Archosauromorpha) from the Upper Triassic of eastern North America". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (2): e1771568. Bibcode:2020JVPal..40E1568S. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1771568. S2CID 222211622.
  3. ↑ Baird, Donald (1963). "Fossil Footprints or Stump Holes?". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 66 (3): 397–400. doi:10.2307/3626532. ISSN 0022-8443. JSTOR 3626532.
  4. ↑ Hopson, J.A. (1984). Late Triassic traversodont cynodonts from Nova Scotia and southern Africa. Palaeontologia Africana Vol. 25; 181-201.
  5. 1 2 Benton, M.J. (1983). The Triassic reptile Hyperodapedon from Elgin: functional morphology and relationships. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 302: 605-717.
  6. ↑ Lucas, Spencer; Heckert, Andrew; Hotton, Nicholas (2002). "The Rhynchosaur Hyperodapedon from the Upper Triassic of Wyoming and Its Global Biochronological Significance.". Upper Triassic Stratigraphy and Paleontology: Bulletin 21. Authority of the State of New Mexico. pp. 149–157. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  7. ↑ Lucas, Spencer G.; Heckert, Andrew B.; Fraser, Nicholas C.; Huber, Philip (1999-10-21). "Aetosaurus from the Upper Triassic of Great Britain and its biochronological significance". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte. 1999 (9): 568–576. doi:10.1127/njgpm/1999/1999/568. ISSN 0028-3630.
  8. 1 2 3 H.-D. Sues and D. Baird. (1998). Procolophonidae (Reptilia: Parareptilia) from the Upper Triassic Wolfville Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18(3):525-532
  9. ↑ Sues, H.-D.; Hopson, J.A.; Shubin, N.H. (1992). "Affinities of ?Scalenodontoides plemmyridon Hopson, 1984 (Synapsida: Cynodontia) from the Upper Triassic of Nova Scotia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 12 (2): 168–17. Bibcode:1992JVPal..12..168S. doi:10.1080/02724634.1992.10011447.
  10. ↑ The main groups of non-mammalian synapsids at Mikko's Phylogeny Archive
  11. ↑ Sues, H.-D. (2003). "An unusual new archosauromorph reptile from the Upper Triassic Wolfville Formation of Nova Scotia". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 40 (4): 635–649. Bibcode:2003CaJES..40..635S. doi:10.1139/e02-048.
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