Cherninia

Cherninia is an extinct genus of mastodonsaurid temnospondyl. The type species, Cherninia denwai, is known from the Denwa Formation of India. It is based on a massive skull, ISI A 54, which was originally considered a species of Parotosuchus in 1998[1] before being given its own genus in 2001.[2]

Cherninia Temporal range: Middle Triassic 247.0–242.0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Life restoration of Cherninia denwai
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	†Temnospondyli
Suborder:	†Stereospondyli
Clade:	†Capitosauria
Family:	†Mastodonsauridae
Genus:	†Cherninia Damiani, 2001
Species
†C. denwai Mukherjee & Sengupta, 1998 (type) †C. megarhina Chernin & Cosgriff, 1975

Another species, Cherninia megarhina, is known from the Upper Ntawere Formation of Zambia. C. megarhina is based on another large skull, BP/1/4223, which had also been previously referred to Parotosuchus.[2][3][4] Though not as well-preserved as the skull of C. denwai, BP/1/4233 was described earlier in 1974. It was described by Sharon Chernin, a paleontologist at the Bernard Price Institute and the namesake of the genus.[5][6][2]

References

1. Mukherjee, Ram Narayan; Sengupta, Dhurjati Prasad (1998-01-01). "New capitosaurid amphibians from the Triassic Denwa Formation of the Satpura Gondwana Basin, central India". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 22 (4): 317–327. doi:10.1080/03115519808619330. ISSN 0311-5518.
2. Damiani, Ross J. (2001-12-01). "A systematic revision and phylogenetic analysis of Triassic mastodonsauroids (Temnospondyli: Stereospondyli)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 133 (4): 379–482. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2001.tb00635.x. ISSN 0024-4082.
3. Damiani, Ross J. (2001). "Cranial anatomy of the giant Middle Triassic temnospondyl Cherninia megarhina and a review of feeding in mastodonsaurids" (PDF). Palaeontologia africana. 37: 41–52.
4. Peecook, Brandon R.; Steyer, J. Sébastien; Tabor, Neil J.; Smith, Roger M. H. (2017-11-29). "Updated geology and vertebrate paleontology of the Triassic Ntawere Formation of northeastern Zambia, with special emphasis on the archosauromorphs". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (sup1): 8–38. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1410484. ISSN 0272-4634.
5. Chernin, Sharon (1974). "Capitosaurid amphibians from the Upper Luangwa Valley, Zambia" (PDF). Palaeontologia africana. 17: 29–55.
6. Chernin, S.; Cosgriff, J.W. (1975). "Further consideration of the capitosaurids from the Upper Luangwa Valley, Zambia" (PDF). Palaeontologia africana. 18: 143–148.