Panthasaurus

Panthasaurus is an extinct genus of large temnospondyl belonging to the family Metoposauridae that lived in India during the Late Triassic (Norian) of central India. It contains one species, Panthasaurus maleriensis from the Lower Maleri Formation of India.

Panthasaurus Temporal range: Norian, 227–220 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Tetrapoda
Order:	†Temnospondyli
Suborder:	†Stereospondyli
Family:	†Metoposauridae
Genus:	†Panthasaurus Chakravorti and Sengupta, 2018
Species:	†P. maleriensis
Binomial name
†Panthasaurus maleriensis (Chowdbury, 1965)
Synonyms
Buettneria maleriensis (Chowdbury, 1965) Metoposaurus maleriensis Chowdbury, 1965

Taxonomy

Metoposaurus maleriensis was coined by Chowdbury (1965) for metoposaurid remains from the Maleri Formation in the Pranhita–Godavari Basin of eastern India.^[1] Later, Hunt (1993) transferred the species to the genus Buettneria,^[2] which was followed by Sulej (2002).^[3]

In a paper published in 2018, Chakravorti and Sengupta concluded that specimens of Metoposaurus maleriensis formed a morphospace and morphotype distinct from metoposaurids found in Laurasia. They erected a new genus, Panthasaurus, for M. maleriensis.^[4]

See also

• Paleontology portal

• Triassic–Jurassic extinction event
• Timeline of paleontology