Papposaurus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Sarcopterygii |
Clade: | Tetrapodomorpha |
Order: | †Embolomeri |
Family: | †Proterogyrinidae |
Genus: | †Papposaurus Watson, 1914 |
Type species | |
Papposaurus traquairi Watson, 1914
|
Papposaurus is an extinct genus of proterogyrinid embolomere which lived in the Mississippian (early Carboniferous) of Scotland. It is known from a single species, Papposaurus traquiairi, which is based on an isolated femur discovered in ironstone near Loanhead.[1][2] Though originally compared closely to reptiles,[3] subsequent study has revealed closer similarity to basal embolomeres such as Proterogyrinus and Archeria.[1] With such limited remains, Papposaurus may not be a valid genus. The femur was redescribed in 1986 by T. R. Smithson, who considered Papposaurus traquairi a nomen vanum possibly synonymous with Proterogyrinus scheelei.[4]