Parvosaurus

This article is about the German rhynchocephalian. For the Brazilian gracilisuchid, see Parvosuchus. For the Arizonan phytosaur, see Pravusuchus. For the South African therocephalian, see Pardosuchus.

Parvosaurus is an extinct species of rhynchocephalian reptile known from the Late Triassic of Germany.

Parvosaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Rhynchocephalia
Genus:	†Parvosaurus Freisem et al., 2024
Species:	†P. harudensis
Binomial name
†Parvosaurus harudensis Freisem et al., 2024

Discovery

The specimen was discovered in the rock surrounding a specimen of Plateosaurus that had been collected from a brick pit located in Saxony-Anhalt between Halberstadt and Quedlinburg on the Bundesstraße 79 highway in sediments belonging to the Late Triassic (Norian) Arnstadt Formation by Werner Janensch in 1928. The specimen was not discovered until the block was CT scanned as part of the redescription of the small reptile Elachistosuchus in 2015.

Description

The species is only known from a skull and partial lower jaws. The skull has been compressed during fossilization. The specimen is thought to be a juvenile, as it has relatively large eyes and is small in size, with the skull only being around 1.6 centimetres (0.63 in) in length, comparable to that of Diphydontosaurus. The dentition is very similar to that of Diphydontosaurus.

Taxonomy

Parvosaurus was placed as a basal sphenodontian by its describers, more derived than Diphydontosaurus but less derived than Planocephalosaurus:

Rhynchocephalia	Gephyrosaurus Sphenodontia Diphydontosaurus Parvosaurus Planocephalosaurus Clevosaurus Neosphenodontia