Lagerpeton: not the first of its kind, but the last of its kind
Quick note
I updated the reconstruction and nesting of Colobomycter, which you can see here.
Traditional paleontologists
consider Lagerpeton (Fig. 1, Romer 1971) a basal dinosauromorph, thus the first of its kind (ancestral to dinosaurs).
In contrast
Lagerpeton nests as a terminal taxon in the large reptile tree, leaving no known descendants. Here (Fig. 1) convergent evolution has created a bipedal chanaresuchid, derived from Tropidosuchus that has similar pedal proportions to the second specimen attributed to Tropidosuchus.
Figure 1. The closest kin of Tropidosuchus are the much larger Chanaresuchus (matching Nesbitt 2011) and the smaller Lagerpeton.
According to
Wikipedia, seven fossil specimens have so far been attributed to L. chanarensis. They don’t add up to much more than a hind limb and pelvic girdle.
- UPLR 06 (holotype) – articulated right hindlimb
- PVL 4619 – articulated pelvis with sacrum, partial right and complete left hindlimbs
- PVL 4625 – left pelvis with left femur and articulated vertebral column (dorsal, sacral and anterior caudal vertebrae
- PVL 5000 – proximal end of left femur
- MCZ 4121 – complete left, and partial right, femur.
Brusatte et al.
found Early Triassic footprints they attributed to lagosuchids. In reality the ichnites were closer to Rotodactylus tracks, which match the feet of fenestrasaurs, like Cosesaurus through pterosaurs.
In the large reptile tree
archosauriformes split at their origin, shortly after Youngina (AMNH 5561) and Youngoides (UC 1528) into two clades. The larger specimens start with Proterosuchus and radiate into choristoderes, parasuchians, doswellians and chanaresuchians terminating with Lagerpeton and its sister, Tropidosuchus (Fig. 1). The other branch starts with Euparkeria and extends to crocs, dinos and birds.
So,
Lagerpeton is not a close relative of dinosaurs, but convergent in several regards. The odd feet and pelves give them away as distinctly different from dinosaurs. Even so paleontologists continue clinging to this hypothesis. Better dino ancestors can be found here.
References
Arcucci A 1986. New materials and reinterpretation of Lagerpeton chanarensis Romer (Thecodontia, Lagerpetonidae nov.) from the Middle Triassic of La Rioja, Argentina. Ameghiniana 23(3-4):233-242. online pdf
Brusatte SL, Niedźwiedzki G, Butler RJ 2011. “Footprints pull origin and diversification of dinosaur stem lineage deep into Early Triassic.”. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278 (1708): 1107–1113. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.1746. PMC 3049033. PMID 20926435.
Romer AS 1971 The Chanares (Argentina) Triassic reptile fauna X. Two new but incompletely known long-limbed pseudosuchians: Brevoria, n. 378, p. 1-10.
Sereno PC and Arcucci AB 1993. Dinosaurian precursors from the Middle Triassic of Argentina: Lagerpeton chanarensis. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 13, 385–399.
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2016/06/11/lagerpeton-not-the-first-of-its-kind-but-the-last-of-its-kind/
