Parasaurus

Parasaurus (meaning "near lizard") is a dubious genus of pareiasaur known from fossils collected in the Kupferschiefer in Germany (Hesse, Thuringia and Lower Saxony). The type species, Parasaurus geinitzi, described by Hermann von Meyer in 1857, was the first pareiasaur ever described. The seven known specimens were redescribed in 2008.[1]

Not to be confused with Parasaurolophus.

Parasaurus Temporal range: Wuchiapingian, 259–254 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Clade:	†Parareptilia
Order:	†Procolophonomorpha
Clade:	†Pareiasauria
Family:	†Pareiasauridae
Genus:	†Parasaurus von Meyer, 1857
Type species
†Parasaurus geinitzi von Meyer, 1857

Discovery and naming

As early as 1848, pareiasaur fossils have been reported from Germany - some of these fossils may have belonged to Parasaurus.[2] It was not until 1857 when von Meyer described these fossils and created the Parasaurus genus. von Meyer classified Parasaurus as a reptile but it was classified as a pareiasaur when the family was created in 1888. Lee (1997) classified Parasaurus as a nomen dubium. In 2008, Tsuji and Müller re-evaluated the genus.[1]

Phylogeny

Below is a cladogram from Tsuji et al. (2013):[3]

Pareiasauria

"Bradysaurus" seeleyi       Bradysaurus baini     Nochelesaurus       Embrithosaurus       Bunostegos         Deltavjatia     Parasaurus     Velosauria     Nanopareia     Provelosaurus       Anthodon     Pumiliopareia             Shansisaurus       Shihtienfenia       Pareiasuchus peringueyi     Pareiasuchus nasicornis             Arganaceras     Elginia     Obirkovia     Pareiasaurus     Sanchuansaurus     Scutosaurus

References

1. L. A. Tsuji and J. Müller. 2008. A Re-evaluation of Parasaurus geinitzi, the first named pareiasaur (Amniota, Parareptilia). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 45(10):1111-1121
2. Geinitz, H.B. 1848. Die Versteinerungen des deutschen Zechsteingebirges. In Die Verteinerungen des Zechsteingebirges und Rothliegenden oder des permischen Systemes in Sachsen. Edited by H.B. Geinitz and A. von Gutbier. Arnoldische Buchhandlung, Dresden and Leipzig, pp. 1–29. Google Scholar
3. Tsuji, L. A.; Sidor, C. A.; Steyer, J. - S. B.; Smith, R. M. H.; Tabor, N. J.; Ide, O. (2013). "The vertebrate fauna of the Upper Permian of Niger—VII. Cranial anatomy and relationships of Bunostegos akokanensis (Pareiasauria)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (4): 747–763. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.739537.