#zechstein formation

[saritapaleo]

Archovember 2024 Day 2 - Protorosaurus speneri

Rather unspectacular and lizard-y in life, Protorosaurus speneri is actually one of the oldest and most primitive members of Archosauromorpha, the group that would eventually lead to dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and pseudosuchians. It lived during the Late Permian in Germany and Great Britain. For a Permian animal, it was actually quite large, growing to up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) long. While it had the conical, unserrated teeth characteristic of a predator, bits of conifer have been found in one specimen’s stomach, as well as gastroliths used for grinding tough plants. Therefore, Protorosaurus was probably an omnivore or even fully a herbivore. Protosaurus’ long neck was likely an adaptation for plant-eating, using it to reach to higher branches, hinting at what was eventually to come for Archosauria.

Living in the Zechstein Formation, Protorosaurus would have lived near the edge of the Zechstein Sea, a large inland shallow sea that existed in Northern Europe during the Late Permian. The environment was semi-arid, dominated by conifers and seed ferns. Protorosaurus would have lived alongside the gliding weigeltisaurid reptiles Weigeltisaurus and Glaurung, the pareiasaur Parasaurus, the cynodont Procynosuchus, as well as captorhinids, dicynodonts, and temnospondyl amphibians.

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