Tseajaia Temporal range:
Permian
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Tseajaia life reconstruction | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Order: | † Diadectomorpha |
Family: | † Tseajaiidae |
Genus: | †
Tseajaia Vaughn, 1964 |
Tseajaia is an extinct genus of tetrapod. It was a basal diadectomorph that lived in the Permian of North America. [1] The skeleton is that of a medium-sized, rather advanced reptile-like animal. In life it was about 1 metre (3 ft) long and may have looked vaguely like an iguana. The dentition was somewhat blunt, indicating herbivory or possibly omnivory.
Tseajaia was described from a single, fairly complete specimen and was given its own family by Robert L. Carroll. It was originally thought to be a seymouriamorph. [2] Additional finds allowing for a better taxonomic analysis indicate they belong in the Diadectomorpha, as the sister group to the large and more derived Diadectidae. Tseajaia itself being a fairly generalized form, gives a reasonable indication of the build and looks of the closest relatives of the amniotes. [3] [4]