| Oryctorhynchus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skeletal reconstruction ofO. bairdi | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Rhynchosauria |
| Family: | †Rhynchosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Hyperodapedontinae |
| Genus: | †Oryctorhynchus Sues, Fitch & Whatley,2020 |
| Type species | |
| †Oryctorhynchus bairdi Sues, Fitch & Whatley, 2020 | |
Oryctorhynchus is an extinct genus ofrhynchosaur from theLate Triassic (Carnian-Norian)-agedWolfville Formation ofNova Scotia,Canada that may have been the same animal asBeesiiwo.[1] The type species,O. bairdi, was named and described in 2020.[2] It was originally seen as a species ofHyperodapedon until 2020.
The holotype was discovered in theWolfville Formation byDonald Baird sometime between 1958 and 1963;[2] its earliest known mention is by Baird (1963).[3] Shortly after, it was informally named the "Nova ScotiaHyperodapedon" (H. sp.) by Robin Whatley in a 1984 paper published by J. A. Hopson.[4] It was briefly described by Michael Benton (1983) also as a species ofHyperodapedon.[5] It was then assigned tocf. "Hyperodapedon"sanjuanensis by Lucasetal., (2002).[6] The genus was not recognised as a distinct taxon until it was named in 2020.[2]
The holotype,NSM018GF009.012, consists of a partial jaw and several skull fragments including therostrum andskull roof.[2][5]
Fitchet al. (2023) state that specimen NSM018GFF009.003 has "No unique support for [being]Oryctorhynchus bairdi, and [they] do not consider it a part ofO . bairdi. These attributes better align with those found inBeesiiwo cooowuse... [they] suggest it is either a close relative ofBeesiiwo or a member of such."[1]
The genus name consists of theoryctoprefix, which meansburrow, and therhynchussuffix, meaningsnout; the full genus name meansburrowed snout. The epithet honours David Baird, for his work onTriassictetrapods fromNova Scotia.[2]
Sueset al. (2020) placedOryctorhynchus as the sister species toHyperodapedon and an unnamedhyperodapedontine taxon fromWyoming.[2]
Oryctorhynchus is from theWolfville Formation (Upper Wolfville Member; Fundy Basin), which probably corresponds to thePopo Agie Formation. The age of the Upper Wolfville Member is unclear; it either dates from thelatest Carnian? -earliest Norian? or the late Carnian (~230 Ma).[7]
It would have coexisted withAcadiella,[8]Arctotraversodon,[9]Arctosuchus buceros (?),[10]Haligonia,[8]Scoloparia[8] andTeraterpeton.[11]
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