słonie: Lisowicia

Evidence: 45 • authority: 92

An elephant-sized Late Triassic synapsid with erect limbs.. Here, we describe the dicynodont Lisowicia bojani , from the Late Triassic of Poland, a gigantic synapsid with seemingly upright subcursorial limbs that reached an estimated length of more than 4.5 meters, height of 2.6 meters, and body mass of 9 tons. Lisowicia is the youngest undisputed dicynodont and the largest nondinosaurian terrestrial tetrapod from the Triassic. The lack of lines of arrested growth and the highly remodeled cortex of its limb bones suggest permanently rapid growth and recalls that of dinosaurs and mammals. The discovery of Lisowicia overturns the established picture of the Triassic megaherbivore radiation as…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

Lisowicia is an extinct genus of giant dicynodont synapsid that lived in what is now Poland during the late Norian or earliest Rhaetian age of the Late Triassic Period, about 210–205 million years ago. Lisowicia is the largest known dicynodont, as well as the largest non-mammalian synapsid, reaching about 4.5 metres (15 ft) long, standing up to 2.6 metres (8.5 ft) tall at the hips and weighing around 5–7 metric tons (5.5–7.7 short tons), comparable in size to modern elephants. It was also one of the last dicynodonts, living shortly before their extinction at the end of the Triassic period. Fossils of a giant dicynodont were known from Poland since 2008, but Lisowicia was not named and offic…

Evidence: 35 • authority: 88

Osteology and relationships of the Late Triassic giant dicynodont <i>Lisowicia</i>. Abstract Unexpectedly abundant remains of herbivorous therapsids in the Late Triassic strata of southern Poland have significantly supplemented knowledge of their evolution. The skeletal morphology of the Late Norian (or Rhaetian) dicynodont Lisowicia bojani supports its close relationship to the Carnian Woznikella, both known from the Polish part of the Germanic Basin. Three evolutionary lineages of dicynodonts—Laurasian–Gondwanan Rhadiodromus klimovi → Jachaleria candelariensis lineage, Laurasian lineage Shaanbeikannemeyeria xilougouensis → Lisowicia bojani, and the Gondwanan lineage Kannemeyeria simocepha…

Evidence: — • authority: 88

The first non-mammalian synapsid embryo from the Triassic of South Africa. Oviparity was likely the plesiomorphic reproductive condition for non-mammalian Synapsida, the stem-mammal group. Yet, despite nearly two centuries of research, no definitive fossil eggs of late Palaeozoic or early Mesozoic synapsids have been discovered. Here, three perinate specimens of the dicynodont genus Lystrosaurus from the Early Triassic of the South African Karoo Basin are examined using high-resolution CT and synchrotron scanning. One specimen, NMQR 3636, displays a tightly curled posture suggestive of an in ovo position and completely lacks tusks. Crucially, the lower jaw symphysis remains unfused—a develo…