Alveusdectes

Name: Alveusdectes.
Phonetic: Al-ve-u-dek-teez.
Named By: J.‭ ‬Liu‭ & ‬G.‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Bever‭ ‬-‭ ‬2015.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptiliomorpha,‭ ‬Diadectomorpha,‭ ‬Diadectidae.
Species: A.‭ ‬fenestralis‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of remains.
Known locations: China‭ ‬-‭ ‬Shangshihezi Formation.
Time period: Wuchiapingian of the Permian.
Fossil representation: Partial skull.

       Alveusdectes is an important discovery as it represents one of the last surviving diadectimorphs to live.‭ ‬Diadectomorphs‭ (‬those like Diadectes‭) ‬were reptilomorphs that rose to prominence during the Carboniferous,‭ ‬but they were eventually replaced by therapsids and true reptiles.‭ ‬What the discovery of Alveusdectes tells us is that while their numbers declined during the Permian,‭ ‬some populations managed to hold on until the end of the Permian.‭ ‬At this time a major extinction event gripped the planet wiping out most of the animals,‭ ‬and so far there is no fossil evidence to suggest that diadectomorphs survived this.
       Alveusdectes would have been a quadrupedal herbivore that ate plants.‭ ‬Like relative genera,‭ ‬Alveusdectes was well adapted for grinding tough fibrous plants which would have been common in many of the harsh environments of the Permian.

Further reading
-‭ ‬The last diadectomorph sheds light on Late Palaeozoic tetrapod biogeography.‭ ‬Biology Letters‭ ‬11:20150100.‭ ‬-‭ ‬J.‭ ‬Liu‭ & ‬G.‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Bever‭ ‬-‭ ‬2015.



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