Kocurypelta is an extinct genus of paratypothoracin aetosaur from the Late Triassic (Norian)-aged Lissauer Breccia of southern Poland. Only the type species is known, which is K. silvestris, described by Czepiński et al. in 2021.[1]
| Kocurypelta Temporal range: Late Triassic,
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Archosauria |
| Clade: | Pseudosuchia |
| Order: | †Aetosauria |
| Family: | †Stagonolepididae |
| Genus: | †Kocurypelta Czepiński et al., 2021 |
| Species: | †K. silvestris
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| Binomial name | |
| †Kocurypelta silvestris Czepiński et al., 2021
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Discovery and naming
editThe holotype (ZPAL V.66/4), which consists of part of the maxilla, and referred material (three dorsal paramedial plates and a ventral plate fragment), was found in a layer of the Lissauer Breccia, of which the location was believed to have been lost after the formation was studied by Friedrich von Huene while describing Velocipes in 1932,[2] near Kocury, during excavations that began in 2012, that re-discovered and re-explored the formation. The remains were described as the new species Kocurypelta silvestris in 2021.[1]
Description
editAccording to Czepiński et al. (2021), Kocurypelta is characterized by autapomorphies of the maxilla: an elongated edentulous posterior portion longer than 80% of the posterior maxillary process, a short medial shelf restricted to the posterior portion of the bone, an anteriorly unroofed maxillary accessory cavity, and the lack of a distinct groove for choanal recess on the anteromedial surface of the bone.[1]
Paleoecology
editKocurypelta would have been contemporaneous with the theropod dinosaur Velocipes, an indeterminate species of lungfish (cf. Metaceratodus sp.) and an indeterminate species of stem-turtle from the Proterochersidae family (Proterochersis cf. porebensis).[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Czepiński, Ł.; Dróżdż, D.; Szczygielski, T.; Tałanda, M.; Pawlak, W.; Lewczuk, A.; Rytel, A.; Sulej, T. (2021). "An Upper Triassic Terrestrial Vertebrate Assemblage from the Forgotten Kocury Locality (Poland) with a New Aetosaur Taxon". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41: e1898977. doi:10.1080/02724634.2021.1898977. S2CID 233522981.
- ^ Huene, F. von. (1932). Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte. Monogr. Geol. Pal. 4 (1) pts. 1 and 2, viii + 361 pp.