biology

Prionosuchus

Prionosuchus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Prionosuchus rather than just read about it. In short: Prionosuchus is an extinct genus of large temnospondyl. A single species P. plummeri, is recognized from the Early Permian (some time between 299 and 272 million years ago).

Key takeaways

Prionosuchus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Prionosuchus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Prionosuchus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Prionosuchus is an extinct genus of large temnospondyl. A single species P. plummeri, is recognized from the Early Permian (some time between 299 and 272 million years ago). Its fossils have been found in what is now northeastern Brazil.

Description

The fragmentary remains of this animal have been found in the Pedra de Fogo Formation in the Parnaíba Basin of northeastern Brazil, in the states of Piauí and Maranhão, and it was described by L.I. Price in 1948. The incomplete skull of the holotype specimen has been estimated to be 50 centimetres (20 in) long. Several more fragmentary specimens have been found. One very fragmentary but very large specimen (BMNH R12005) appears to have come from an individual nearly three times the size of most other specimens, and may have had a skull that measured up to 1.6 metres (5.2 ft) long. Based on related species and comparisons with living gharials, the total body length of this specimen has been estimated to reach greater than 5.5 metres (18 ft). With an elongated and tapered snout, numerous sharp teeth, long body, short legs, and a tail adapted for swimming, its general appearance was very similar to a modern gharial or gar, and it probably had a similar lifestyle as an ambush aquatic predator feeding on fish and other aquatic animals. A study of the closely related Archegosaurus shows that it had a heat balance, gas exchange, osmoregulation, and digestion process more similar to that of fish than modern aquatic amphibians; the same probably applied to Prionosuchus as well.

Classification Prionosuchus has been classified as an archegosaurid by Carroll. The genus is monotypic with P. plummeri being the only species described. The archegosaurs were a group of temnospondyls that occupied the ecological niche of crocodiles and alligators during the Permian, and of which the European genus Archegosaurus is typical. The group became extinct at the end of the Permian and the niche was subsequently filled by other, new temnospondyls, later joined by reptiles such as the phytosaurs in the Triassic period. Cox and Hutchinson re-evaluated Prionosuchus in 1991 and synonymized it with the genus Platyoposaurus from Russia. On the basis of this study, the Pedra de Fogo Formation was reevaluated to be of Middle-to-Late Permian age. However, studies based on plants and pollens indicate that this formation is actually Early Permian in age, making Prionosuchus not contemporary with Platyoposaurus. More recent research rejects the later Permian date.

Paleoecology

Prionosuchus lived in a humid and tropical environment as indicated by the petrified forest of the Pedra de Fogo Formation in which fossils of this animal have been found. The strata composed of siltstones, shales and limestones were deposited in lagoonal and fluvial environments. Other animals discovered in the same formation include other amphibians (Procuhy, Timonya, and a rhinesuchid), captorhinids (Captorhinikos and two other, unnamed taxa), parareptile (Karutia) and fish including chondrichthyans (Rubencanthus, Sphenacanthus, Bythiacanthus, Taquaralodus, Itapyrodus, Anisopleurodontis), palaeoniscids (Brazilichthys), and lungfish.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Prionosuchus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Prionosuchus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Prionosuchus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Prionosuchus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Prionosuchus

In research: Prionosuchus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Prionosuchus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Prionosuchus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cisuralian temnospondyls, Fossil taxa described in 1948, Fossils of Brazil, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Prionosuchus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Prionosuchus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Prionosuchus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Prionosuchus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Prionosuchus in simple terms?

Prionosuchus is an extinct genus of large temnospondyl. A single species P. plummeri, is recognized from the Early Permian (some time between 299 and 272 million years ago).

Why does Prionosuchus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Prionosuchus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Prionosuchus.