Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 3, 2026

Chroniosaurus

Chroniosaurus is an extinct genus of chroniosuchid stegocephalian, often considered a reptiliomorph but possibly a stem-tetrapod, from upper Permian deposits of Novgorod, Orenburg and Vologda Regions, Russia. It was first named by Tverdokhlebova in 1972 and the type species is Chroniosaurus dongusensis.

Last revised
Jul 3, 2026
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Wikipedia ↗
Chroniosaurus
Temporal range: Upper Permian
C. dongusensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Reptiliomorpha (?)
Order: †Chroniosuchia
Family: †Chroniosuchidae
Genus: †Chroniosaurus
Tverdochlebova, 1972
Species
  • †C. dongusensis Tverdokhlebova, 1972 (type)
  • †C. levis Golubev, 1998
Restoration of C. dongusensis source ↗

Chroniosaurus is an extinct genus of chroniosuchid stegocephalian, often considered a reptiliomorph1 but possibly a stem-tetrapod,2 from upper Permian (upper Tatarian age) deposits of Novgorod, Orenburg and Vologda Regions, Russia.3 It was first named by Tverdokhlebova in 1972 and the type species is Chroniosaurus dongusensis.3

Habitation

Its lifestyle is uncertain. An early study suggested a fairly aquatic lifestyle,4 but its femoral microanatomy5 and dorsal dermal plates6 suggest a rather terrestrial lifestyle.

References

References

  1. Buchwitz, Michael; Foth, Christian; Kogan, Ilja; Voigt, Sebastian (May 2012). "On the use of osteoderm features in a phylogenetic approach on the internal relationships of the Chroniosuchia (Tetrapoda: Reptiliomorpha)". Palaeontology. 55 (3): 623–640. Bibcode:2012Palgy..55..623B. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01137.x.
  2. Marjanović, David; Laurin, Michel (4 January 2019). "Phylogeny of Paleozoic limbed vertebrates reassessed through revision and expansion of the largest published relevant data matrix". PeerJ. 6 e5565. doi:10.7717/peerj.5565. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6322490. PMID 30631641.
  3. V. K. Golubev (1998). "Revision of the Late Permian Chroniosuchians (Amphibia, Anthracosauromorpha) from Eastern Europe" (PDF). Paleontological Journal. 32 (4): 390–401.
  4. Golubev, V. K. (1998). "Narrow-armored chroniosuchians (Amphibia, Anthracosauromorpha) from the Late Permian of Eastern Europe". Paleontological Journal. 32: 278–287.
  5. Laurin, Michel; Girondot, Marc; Loth, Marie-Madeleine (December 2004). "The evolution of long bone microstructure and lifestyle in lissamphibians". Paleobiology. 30 (4): 589–613. Bibcode:2004Pbio...30..589L. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2004)030<0589:TEOLBM>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0094-8373.
  6. Buchwitz, Michael; Witzmann, Florian; Voigt, Sebastian; Golubev, Valeriy (July 2012). "Osteoderm microstructure indicates the presence of a crocodylian-like trunk bracing system in a group of armoured basal tetrapods". Acta Zoologica. 93 (3): 260–280. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6395.2011.00502.x.