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# Euparkeria africanus
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Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial vertebrates) >
Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia > Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha
> Archosauriformes
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Reconstructed forest scene with Euparkeria
africana trying to catch dragonfly. [Illustration by Tobie Beale ©] |
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Diagrammatic side view of Euparkeria africana
showing skeleton and body outline. [Illustration by Cedric Hunter, ©
Iziko Museums] |
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| Skull of one of the Euparkeria fossils
collected by Mr Brown.
[Photo Roger Smith, Iziko ©] |
Euparkeria capensis was a small armour-plated
reptile about 1.2 meters long. It walked on four legs most of the time, although
it probably sprinted on its hind legs to capture small prey such as insects,
spiders, scorpions and possibly fish. This proto-archosaur exhibits several
skeletal modifications that place it on the evolutionary path leading to
dinosaurs.
Euparkeria displays many archosaur-like
characteristics, but is not considered to be a true archosaur because it has the
following primitive reptilian characters:
Discovery of Euparkeria
The Euparkeria fossils were discovered in 1907 by Mr
Gibb, a quarryman who was collecting sandstone blocks for foundations for a new
building in Aliwal North, Eastern Cape, South Africa. He did not take much
interest in the fossils and if it were not for the efforts of an eccentric
Englishman and retired local schoolmaster named Alfred (“Gogga”) Brown, these
specimens would not have been rescued. Luckily Mr Brown was an avid fossil
collector who kept meticulous notes of all his finds. Following his handwritten
directions we were able to relocate the stone quarry but unfortunately the
bonebed has been completely excavated and there are no fossils left there.
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Alfred (“Gogga”) Brown |
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Page from one of Mr Brown’s handwritten
catalogues. [Photo Roger Smith, Iziko ©] |
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Site near Aliwal North, where the Euparkeria
fossils were found. [Photo Roger Smith, Iziko ©] |
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Remains of quarry where Euparkeria fossils were
found. [Photo Roger Smith, Iziko ©] |
Publications
- Botha-Brink J, Smith RMH. 2011. Osteohistology of the Triassic
archosauromorphs Prolacerta, Proterosuchus, Euparkeria, and
Erythrosuchus from the Karoo Basin of South Africa. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 31(6): 1238-1254. DOI:10.1080/02724634.2011.621797
- Broom R. 1913. On the South-African Pseudosuchian Euparkeria and
Allied Genera. Journal of Zoology 83(3): 619-633. DOI:
10.1111/j.1469-7998.1913.tb06148.x
- Ewer RF 1965. The anatomy of the thecodont reptile Euparkeria
capensis Broom. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of
London. Series B, Biological Sciences 248(751): 379-435.
- Gower DJ, Weber E. 1998. The braincase of Euparkeria, and the
evolutionary relationships of birds and crocodilians. Biological Reviews
73(4): 367-411. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185X.1998.tb00177.x
- Haughton SH. 1922. On the reptilian genera Euparkeria Broom, and
Mesosuchus Watson. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa.
10(1): 81-88. DOI:10.1080/00359192209519270
- Senter P. 2003. New information on cranial and dental features of the
Triassic archosauriform reptile Euparkeria capensis. Palaeontology
46(3): 613-621. DOI: 10.1111/1475-4983.00311
Text by Roger Smith |
