Arganodus Explained

Arganodus is an extinct genus of freshwater lungfish that had a wide global distribution throughout much of the Triassic period, with a single species surviving across Gondwana into the Cretaceous.[1] It is the only member of the family Arganodontidae, although it is sometimes placed in the Ceratodontidae or synonymized with the genus Asiatoceratodus.[2] [3] [4]

It was first named by Martin in 1979 based on fossils found at Tizi n'Maâchou in the Marrakech area of Morocco, in rocks of the Timezgadiouine Formation belonging to the Argana Group (hence the generic name).[5]

Taxonomy

Arganodus contains the following species:

Indeterminate specimens have been found in the Redonda Formation, New Mexico and the Cumnock Formation, North Carolina, although the North Carolinian specimens are smaller than most recorded specimens.[8] [9] [10] Other indeterminate remains are also known from the Late Triassic of India and Turkey. Possibly the oldest records of the genus are probable remains from the Induan of northwestern Australia. It has been suggested that shortly after the origin of Arganodus in the early Triassic, it spread into what is now Europe, evolving into A. multicristatus. Before the Late Triassic, it diverged into two vicariant lineages separated by the Central Pangean Mountains: A. atlantis in the east, and A. dorotheae & the Cumnock species in the west, while going extinct in the European region. It eventually went extinct in Laurasia, but one species, A. tiguidensis, managed to survive in Gondwana throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous.

Kemp (1998) placed Arganodus as a synonym of Asiatoceratodus, and this taxonomy has been followed by many other authors, although others still retain them as different genera and families.

Paleoecology

Arganodus was probably similar to modern lungfish, and lived in underwater burrows during dry periods until monsoons occurred.[6]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: PBDB Taxon . 2024-04-05 . paleobiodb.org.
  2. Book: Nelson . Joseph S. . 10.1002/9781119174844 . Fishes of the World . Grande . Terry C. . Wilson . Mark V. H. . 2016-02-22 . Wiley . 978-1-118-34233-6.
  3. Kemp . A. . 1998-04-10 . Skull structure in post-Paleozoic lungfish . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . en . 18 . 1 . 43–63 . 10.1080/02724634.1998.10011033 . 1998JVPal..18...43K . 0272-4634.
  4. Skrzycki . Piotr . Niedźwiedzki . Grzegorz . Tałanda . Mateusz . 2018 . Dipnoan remains from the Lower-Middle Triassic of the Holy Cross Mountains and northeastern Poland, with remarks on dipnoan palaeobiogeography . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 496 . 332–345 . 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.049 . 2018PPP...496..332S . 0031-0182.
  5. Martin . M. . Arganodus atlantis et Ceratodus arganensis, deux nouveaux Dipneustes du Trias supérieur continental marocain [Arganodus atlantis and Ceratodus arganensis, two new dipnoans from the continental Moroccan Upper Triassic] . Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris . 1979 . 289 . 89–92.
  6. Web site: 13 April 2007 . Petrified Forest National Park – Vertebrates of the Late Triassic (U.S. National Park Service) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20080612121305/http://www.nps.gov/pefo/naturescience/vertebrates-of-the-late-triassic.htm . 12 June 2008 . 2008-07-15 . www.nps.gov.
  7. Haddoumi . Hamid . Allain . Ronan . Meslouh . Said . Metais . Grégoire . Monbaron . Michel . Pons . Denise . Rage . Jean-Claude . Vullo . Romain . Zouhri . Samir . January 2016 . Guelb el Ahmar (Bathonian, Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco): First continental flora and fauna including mammals from the Middle Jurassic of Africa . Gondwana Research . 29 . 1 . 290–319 . 10.1016/j.gr.2014.12.004 . 2016GondR..29..290H . 1342-937X.
  8. Web site: 2005 . The Microvertebrate Fauna of Shark Tooth Hill, Redonda Formation (Late Triassic, Apachean), Quay County, New Mexico . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20080602065341/http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005RM/finalprogram/abstract_86716.htm . 2 June 2008 . 2008-07-14 . Andrew B. Heckert, Spencer G. Lucas and Adrian P. Hunt, New Mexico Museum of National History.
  9. Web site: 2006 . A New Microvertebrate Fauna from the Upper Triassic (Norian) Cumnock Formation, Durham Subbasin, North Carolina, USA . 2008-07-15 . Andrew B. Heckert, Vincent Schneider, Paul E. Olsen, and Sterling Nesbitt.
  10. Heckert . Andrew B. . Mitchell . Jonathan S. . Schneider . Vincent P. . Olsen . Paul E. . 2012 . Diverse new microvertebrate assemblage from the Upper Triassic Cumnock Formation, Sanford Subbasin, North Carolina, USA . Journal of Paleontology . en . 86 . 2 . 368–390 . 10.1666/11-098.1 . 2012JPal...86..368H . 0022-3360.