Habrosaurus
Extinct genus of amphibians
Habrosaurus, meaning "graceful lizard", is an extinct genus of prehistoric salamanders, and the oldest and largest known member of the family Sirenidae. Two species are known, H. prodilatus from the middle Campanian Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, and H. dilatus from the late Maastrichtian and Paleocene of western North America. It is relatively common in the Lance Formation of Wyoming, and less common in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana.
01Description
Habrosaurus was a gigantic sirenid, its length is estimated to be around 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in), estimated from its trunk vertebrae length (up to 2 cm long). H. prodilatus possessed chisel-like teeth, while H. dilatus had bulkier crowns. The teeth of H. dilatus also exhibited heavy wear facets while those of H. prodilatus had only mild wear, suggesting that H. dilatus was more adapted for durophagy than H. prodilatus. H. dilatus may have preyed upon arthropods with hard carapaces as well as mollusks.
02Classification
Habrosaurus is a sister taxa to both Pseudobranchus and Siren which are the only genera in the family Sirenidae. Sirenids are classified by their neotenous traits (complete lack of hindlimbs and external gills in both larval and adult states).
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Habrosaurus”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- UALVP 43910.png by Sauriazoicillus, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Habrosaurus Dilatus.png by Sauriazoicillus, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Habrosaurus dilatus Size Chart.png by Sauriazoicillus, CC BY-SA 4.0
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