Araeoscelis

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Extinct genus of tetrapods

title: "Araeoscelis" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["araeoscelidia", "artinskian-life", "cisuralian-tetrapods-of-north-america", "permian-united-states", "paleontology-in-texas", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1910", "taxa-named-by-samuel-wendell-williston"] description: "Extinct genus of tetrapods" topic_path: "science/earth-science" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araeoscelis" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of tetrapods ::

| fossil_range = Artinskian | image = Araeoscelis casei.jpg | image_caption = Fossil at Yale Peabody Museum | taxon = Araeoscelis | authority = Williston 1910 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * A. casei (Broom 1913)

  • A. gracilis Williston 1910 | type_species = Araeoscelis gracilis | type_species_authority = Williston 1910 | synonyms = * Ophiodeirus Broom 1913

Araeoscelis (from el, 'thin' and el, 'ribs of beef') is an extinct genus of tetrapods from the Early Permian of what is now Texas. Fossils have been found in the Nocona, Arroyo and Waggoner Ranch Formations. Two species have been described, A. casei and A. gracilis.

Araeoscelis belonged to the clade Araeoscelidia together with close relatives such as Petrolacosaurus. Araeoscelidia is often considered the most basal group of diapsid reptiles, but some analyses have recovered them as stem-amniotes instead.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Araeoscelis_1914.jpg" caption="1914 restoration by [[Samuel Wendell Williston"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Araeoscelis_.sp.png" caption="Artist's restoration" alt="Artist's restoration of Araeoscelis"] ::

Araeoscelis was around 60 cm long, and superficially resembled a modern lizard. It differed from other araeoscelidians, such as Petrolacosaurus, in that its teeth were larger and blunter; possibly they were used for cracking insect carapaces.

Unlike Petrolacosaurus, which possessed the two pairs of skull openings characteristic of diapsids, in Araeoscelis the lower pair of temporal fenestrae were closed with bone, resulting in a euryapsid condition. This would have made the skull more solid, presumably allowing a more powerful bite.

Ichnology

Footprints found in Nova Scotia have been attributed to Araeoscelis or a close relative.

References

References

  1. (1951). "The dinosaur book: the ruling reptiles and their relatives". New York : Published for the American Museum of Natural History by McGraw-Hill.
  2. (2015). "The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs". Hermes House.
  3. (2022-08-19). "Successive climate crises in the deep past drove the early evolution and radiation of reptiles". Science Advances.
  4. (2023). "A review of ''Coelostegus prothales'' Carroll and Baird, 1972 from the Upper Carboniferous of the Czech Republic and the interrelationships of basal eureptiles". PLOS ONE.
  5. (1999). "The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals". Marshall Editions.

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araeoscelidiaartinskian-lifecisuralian-tetrapods-of-north-americapermian-united-statespaleontology-in-texasfossil-taxa-described-in-1910taxa-named-by-samuel-wendell-williston