Wellesaurus

Article summary

Wellesaurus is an extinct genus of mastodonsauroid temnospondyl. They were amphibious carnivores that lived in freshwater environments. Wellesaurus encompasses several species which were connected when the genus was named in 1971. The type species, Wellesaurus peabodyi, was originally named as Parotosaurus peabodyi in 1965. This species is based on UCMP 36058, a complete skull from the Wupatki Member of the Moenkopi Formation in Arizona. Many other skulls have been recovered from the area and referred to the species. Wellesaurus peabodyi is often considered synonymous with Stanocephalosaurus birdi, a contemporaneous capitosaur named in 1933. Another potential species, Wellesaurus africanus, is from subzone B of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone in South Africa. Although this species was originally formulated in 1909, the fragmentary preservation of its material has prevented precise conclusions on its affinities. As a result, it has been referred to a variety of mastodonsauroid genera, including Capitosaurus, Parotosuchus, and Wellesaurus. Based on a more complete skull, the africanus species was given its own genus, Xenotosuchus, in 2002. A third potential species, Wellesaurus bussoni, was named in 1971 based on fragmentary skull material from the Lower Sandstone Member of the Zarzaïtine Series in Algeria.…

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.