Pamelaria
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Pamelaria Temporal range: Middle Triassic |
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| Life restoration of Pamelaria dolichotrachela | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Crocopoda |
| Clade: | †Allokotosauria |
| Genus: |
†Pamelaria Sen, 2003 |
| Type species | |
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†Pamelaria dolichotrachela Sen, 2003 |
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Pamelaria is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptile known from a single species, Pamelaria dolichotrachela, from the Middle Triassic of India.Pamelaria has sprawling legs, a long neck, and a pointed skull with nostrils positioned at the very tip of the snout. Among early archosauromorphs, Pamelaria is most similar to Prolacerta from the Early Triassic of South Africa and Antarctica. Both have been placed in the family Prolacertidae. Pamelaria, Prolacerta, and various other Permo-Triassic reptiles such as Protorosaurus and Tanystropheus have often been placed in a group of archosauromorphs called Protorosauria (alternatively called Prolacertiformes), which was regarded as one of the most basal group of archosauromorphs. However, more recent phylogenetic analyses indicate that Pamelaria and Prolacerta are more closely related to Archosauriformes than are Protorosaurus, Tanystropheus, and other protorosaurs, making Protorosauria a polyphyletic grouping.
Based on known specimens, Pamelaria reached a length of about 2 m. The neck, made up of six thick and elongated cervical vertebrae, comprises much of this length. The limbs are robust, roughly equal in size, and sprawl outward from the body. The pectoral girdle is large and plate-like. The tail is thick near its base and narrows closer to its tip.
The skull of Pamelaria is small and pointed with small, conical teeth. The naris (the opening in the bone for the nasal passage) is a single hole positioned at the tip of the snout. The back margin of the skull viewed from above is strongly arched. The orbits or eye sockets are large. The upper temporal fenestrae at the top of the skull are small while the lower temporal fenestrae behind the orbits are quite large. Like those of protorosaurs, the skull of Pamelaria lacks a connection between the quadrate and the jugal bones along the bottom of the skull, meaning that each lower temporal fenestra is not fully enclosed by bone. The lower jaw has a large raised portion in front of the jaw joint called the coronoid process.
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