Kudnu is an extinct genus of neodiapsid reptile from the Early Triassic Arcadia Formation of Australia.[1] The type species is K. mackinlayi.[2]
| Kudnu Temporal range: Early Triassic,
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| Holotype skull (top) and referred skull (bottom) | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Neodiapsida |
| Genus: | †Kudnu Bartholomai, 1979 |
| Species: | †K. mackinlayi
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| Binomial name | |
| †Kudnu mackinlayi Bartholomai, 1979
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Discovery and naming
editThe holotype is QM F9181, an anterior section of a cranium with articulated dentary rami, and it was discovered in the Crater, southwest of Rolleston, Queensland.[3] The referred skull QM F9182 is also known.[4] Kudnu mackinlayi was named and described by Alan Bartholomai in 1979.[2]
Classification
editKudnu was initially classified within Paliguanidae by Bartholomai (1979). Benton (1985) classified Kudnu within Lepidosauromorpha,[5] while Evans (2003) classified Kudnu within Prolacertiformes,[6] and Evans & Jones (2010) later assigned Kudnu to the Procolophonidae.[7] More recent authors, such as Poropat et al. (2023), consider Kudnu to be a basal member of Neodiapsida.[4]
Paleoecology
editThe world Kudnu inhabited was still recovering from the recent Permian–Triassic extinction event, and as a result global biodiversity had remained low throughout much of the Early Triassic.[8] The world at this time was generally a hot and arid environment, reaching a temperature of 50 °C or even 60 °C at times.[9]
Currently a high diversity of fauna has so far been recorded from the Arcadia Formation that lived alongside Kudnu. This includes a high diversity of amphibians including 14 genera,[10] the archosauriform Kalisuchus rewanensis,[11] the archosauromorph Kadimakara australiensis,[1] the procolophonid Eomurruna yurrgensis[12] as well as an indeterminate dicynodont.[13]
There is also evidence of a diversity of indermitae ichnotaxa based on coprolites.[14]
References
edit- ^ a b Alan, Bartholomai (2008). "New lizard-like reptiles from the Early Triassic of Queensland". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 3 (3): 225–234. doi:10.1080/03115517908527795.
- ^ a b Bartholomai, Alan (1979). "New lizard-like reptiles from the Early Triassic of Queensland". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 3 (3): 225–234. doi:10.1080/03115517908527795. ISSN 0311-5518.
- ^ Metcalfe, I.; Crowley, J.L.; Nicoll, R.S.; Schmitz, M. (2015). "High-precision U-Pb CA-TIMS calibration of Middle Permian to Lower Triassic sequences, mass extinction and extreme climate-change in eastern Australian Gondwana". Gondwana Research. 28 (1): 61–81. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2014.09.002. ISSN 1342-937X.
- ^ a b Poropat, Stephen F.; Bell, Phil R.; Hart, Lachlan J.; Salisbury, Steven W.; Kear, Benjamin P. (2023-04-03). "An annotated checklist of Australian Mesozoic tetrapods". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 47 (2): 129–205. doi:10.1080/03115518.2023.2228367. ISSN 0311-5518.
- ^ BENTON, MICHAEL J. (1985). "Classification and phylogeny of the diapsid reptiles". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 84 (2): 97–164. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1985.tb01796.x. ISSN 0024-4082.
- ^ EVANS, SUSAN E. (2003). "At the feet of the dinosaurs: the early history and radiation of lizards". Biological Reviews. 78 (4): 513–551. doi:10.1017/s1464793103006134. ISSN 1464-7931.
- ^ Evans, Susan E.; Jones, Marc E.H. (2010), "The Origin, Early History and Diversification of Lepidosauromorph Reptiles", New Aspects of Mesozoic Biodiversity, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 27–44, ISBN 978-3-642-10310-0, retrieved 2023-12-29
- ^ Sahney, S.; Benton, M.J. (2008). "Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 275 (1636): 759–65. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1370. PMC 2596898. PMID 18198148.
- ^ Marshall, Michael (18 October 2012). "Roasting Triassic heat exterminated tropical life".
- ^ M. H, Monroe. "The Triassic Labyrinthodonts of Australia". Australia: The Land Where Time Began. M. H Monroe.
- ^ Thulborn, R. A. (1979). "A proterosuchian thecodont from the Rewan Formation of Queensland". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 19: 331–355.
- ^ Hamley, Tim; Cisneros, Juan; Damiani, Ross (2020). "A procolophonid reptile from the Lower Triassic of Australia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 192 (2): 554–609. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa056.
- ^ Rozefelds, Andrew C.; Warren, Anne; Whitfield, Allison; Bull, Stuart (2011). "New Evidence of Large Permo-Triassic Dicynodonts (Synapsida) from Australia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (5): 1158–1162. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.595858. S2CID 140599970.
- ^ Caroline, Northwood (2005). "Early Triassic coprolites from Australia and their palaeobiological significance". The Journal of the Palaeontological Association. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.595858. S2CID 140599970.