Barbaturex
Fossil jaw and skull pieces of Barbaturex morrisoni
- Pondaung Formation ( Myanmar)
- Barbaturex morrisoni Head et al., 2013
Barbaturex is a genus of iguana -like ( Iguania ) whose representatives in the late Eocene (38 mya ) lived in South East Asia. The only species of the genus, Barbaturex morrisoni reached an estimated snout-vent length of about 1 m and a weight of probably 19-37 kg. The animals lived in a tropical habitat and fed to herbivores. Barbaturex is delivered by means of some fossil skull and jaw bones that come from the Pondaung lineup in Myanmar. The genus was first described in 2013 by Jason Head, Gregg Gunnell, Patricia Holroyd, Howard Hutchison and Russell Ciochon. According to a phylogenetic analysis Barbaturex forms the sister taxon of the spiny-tailed lizards ( Uromasticinae ), of which their line of development probably separated in the early Eocene.
Features
Barbaturex morrisoni reached according to estimates based on the proportions of today's relative, a head -body length of 87.4 to 108.8 cm and a total weight of 18.9 to 36.9 kg. This includes the type of the largest Schuppenkriechtieren of Neozoikums and among these only surpassed by the Komodo dragon and Megalania. In the anterior mandible Barbaturex owned a pair pleurodonter teeth, the middle and posterior teeth were akrodont. The posterior teeth are triangular and have continuous Schlifflächen, but no side bumps on. Wide grooves on the underside of the lower jaw are a diagnostic feature of the genus. Below the Meckel's groove, the arches are bulged ventral side. The Angularknochen the type is adherent to the lower jaw.
Ecology and distribution
Barbaturex lived in the area of Southeast Asia in a tropical climate, the mean temperatures were about 2-5 ° C above today in the region. The animals were herbivores and shared their habitat, especially with larger mammals such as Sivatitanops birmanicus, Bunobrontops savagei, Paramynodon cotteri. Metatelmatherium brownii or Paramynodon birmanicus. They were among the larger species and their ecosystem had because of their size and their weight fully grown probably no predators. The largest known predators of that region, Orienspterodon dakhoensis and Kyawdawia lupina, were only slightly larger than Barbaturex.
Fossil material and stratigraphy
Sämtliches fossil material of Barbaturex comes from the Pondaung lineup in Myanmar ( near the village of Mogaung in Sagaing ), which is ( 37.2 1.3 mya ) dated to the late Eocene. It includes pieces from the lower jaw and the frontal bone. The holotype of the species is preserved in the inventory number UCMP 142227 the University of California Museum of Paleontology.
Systematics and Taxonomy
Leiolepis
Barbaturex
Uromastycinae
Chameleons ( Chameleonidae )
Sail lizards ( Hydrosaurus )
Water Dragons ( Physignathus )
Amphibolurines
Draco Ines
Agamines
The genus Barbaturex was erected in 2013 by Jason Head, Gregg Gunnell, Patricia Holroyd, Howard Hutchison and Russell Ciochon on the basis of fossils from Myanmar, she was Barbaturex morrisoni assigned as the only way. The genus name is derived from the Latin " barbatus " for " bearded " ( overlooking the pine grooves) and " rex " for "King " together. The specific epithet devoted the authors Jim Morrison, the lead singer of the American rock band The Doors in allusion to the song line " I am the Lizard King" ("I am the lizard king" ) from the song Celebration of the Lizard of 1968. A combined phylogenetic analysis of morphological and molecular characters has Barbaturex as a sister taxon of the spiny-tailed lizards ( Uromastycinae ) from both of whose ancestors according to the authors in the early Eocene ( about 55 mya ) separated from each other.