| Doswellia Fossil range: Late Triassic | |
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| Scientific classification
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Doswelliidae | |
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Doswellia | |
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Doswellia is an extinct genus of early carnivorous terrestrial crurotarsan of the family Doswelliidae endemic to what would be North America during the Late Triassic (Carnian stage) living from 228—216.5 mya, existing for approximately .[1]
Description[]
Doswellia possesses many highly derived features in its skeleton. The skull is low and elongated with a narrow snout and wide temporal region behind the eye sockets. The temporal region is unusual in that it is euryapsid, which means that the lower of the two temporal holes on either side of the skull has closed. The jugal bone has expanded into the region the lower temporal opening would normally occupy. Paired squamosal bones extend beyond the skull's back margin to form small horn-like projections. The skull of Doswellia lacks several bones found in other archosauriforms, including the postfrontals, tabulars, and postparietals.[4]
The body of Doswellia is also distinctive. The neck is elongated and partially covered by a fused collection of bony scutes called a nuchal plate. The ribs in the front part of the torso project horizontally from the spine and then bend at nearly 90-degree angles to give the body of Doswellia a box-like shape. The blade-like ilium bone of the hip also projects horizontally. The back and underside are covered with ordered rows of bony plates called osteoderms.
Taxonomy[]
The type species, Doswellia kaltenbachi, was described by Weems in 1980. Parrish (1993) places it among the most primitive of the crurotarsans.
Discovery[]
References[]
External links[]
