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Apachesaurus amphibian vertebra 1.jpg


Dpaul7

Apachesaurus amphibian vertebra

Bull Canyon Formation, San Miguel County, New Mexico
Late Triassic (~237 - 201.3 million years ago)
Apachesaurus was a member of the Metoposauridae group of temnospondyl amphibians,‭ ‬though one that was particularly small.‭ ‬The larger close relatives of Apachesaurus include Metoposaurus and Koskinonodon which could grow up to two and a half to three meters long.‭ ‬Apachesaurus however grew only to around just over forty centimetres long. Due to the smaller size,‭ ‬Apachesaurus were probably predators of smaller aquatic organisms.‭ ‬Like other related genera,‭ ‬the eyes were placed further forward on the skull that those of other temnospondyl amphibians.‭ ‬Fossils of Apachesaurus are particularly well known from the states of Arizona and New Mexico where individuals have been found in concentrations.‭ ‬This seems to be a recurring theme that Apachesaurus shares with its relative genera,‭ ‬and the explanation is that metoposaurids were not very good at walking on land,‭ ‬so when pools of water and rivers dried out,‭ ‬they were left exposed to the air where they too dried out and died from lack of water.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Clade: Batrachomorpha
Order: †Temnospondyli
Family: †Metoposauridae
Genus: †Apachesaurus
 

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Photo Information

  • Taken with Canon Canon PowerShot SX120 IS
  • Focal Length 10.3 mm
  • Exposure Time 1/60
  • f Aperture f/3.5
  • ISO Speed 80

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