Petrolacosaurus
Petrolacosaurus ("rock lake lizard") is an extinct genus of diapsid reptile from the late Carboniferous period. It was a small, 40-centimetre (16 in) long reptile, and the earliest known reptile with two temporal fenestrae (holes at the rear part of the skull). This means that it was at the base of Diapsida, the largest and most successful radiation of reptiles that would eventually include all modern reptile groups, as well as dinosaurs (which survive to the modern day as birds) and other famous extinct reptiles such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and pterosaurs. However, Petrolacosaurus itself was part of Araeoscelida, a short-lived early branch of the diapsid family tree which went extinct in the mid-Permian.
The first Petrolacosaurus fossil was found in 1932 in Garnett, Kansas by a field expedition from the University of Kansas Natural History Museum.[1] The party consisted of Henry H. Lane, Claude Hibbard, David Dunkle, Wallace Lane, Louis Coghill, and Curtis Hesse. Unfortunately, no field notes or documentation of their discovery are available.
Petrolacosaurus fossils were found preserved within a layer of laminated shale that was also plant bearing. The strata that the remains were found in was of Upper Pennsylvanian age (approximately 323-298 ma). The fossil itself is estimated to be approximately 302 million years old.[2]
Specimens reveal that Petrolacosaurus had a slightly elongated skull with two temporal fenestrae. The upper temporal fenestra is located posteriorly to an enlarged orbit. This is a distinctly diapsid character.
The largest teeth in the jaw were at the front of the snout, erupting from the premaxilla bone. There were also a few larger-than average teeth further back on the maxilla, which were probably homologous with caniform teeth retained from the common ancestor between true sauropsid reptiles and synapsids (mammal ancestors). On the dentary, there are marginal teeth, displaying a primitive type of shallow implantation. The palatal arrangement bears close resemblance to Youngoides.[3]
There are seven elongated cervical vertebrae, 2 sacrals, and 60 caudal vertebrae. The number and placement of the vertebrae show that Petrolacosaurus was a rather long-necked reptile with a shorter torso. The number and spool-like shape of the vertebrae, in addition to the poses that the reptiles died in, show that they were also very flexible creatures.
