Kapes (reptile)

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}} {{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Kapes | fossil_range = [[Lower Triassic|Lower]] - [[Middle Triassic]] {{fossilrange|252|237}} | image = Kapes full skeleton.jpg | image_caption = Skeleton of ''Kapes bentoni'' | authority = Ivakhnenko, [[1975 in paleontology|1975]] | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * {{extinct}}''K. amaenus'' Ivakhnenko, 1975 ([[Type species|type]]) * {{extinct}}''K. komiensis'' Ivakhnenko, 1975 [originally ''Macrophon komiensis''] * {{extinct}}''K. majmesculae'' Ochev, 1968 [originally ''[[Tichvinskia]] majmesculae''] * {{extinct}}''K. bentoni'' Spencer and Storrs, 2002 * {{extinct}}''K. signus'' Riccetto ''et al.'', 2025 }} [[File:Kapes skull.jpg|left|thumb|Skull of ''Kapes bentoni'']]

'''''Kapes''''' is an extinct [[genus]] of [[procolophonid]] [[parareptile]] from the [[Lower Triassic|Lower]] and [[Middle Triassic]] of Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom. The [[type (biology)|type]] species ''K. amaenus'' was named in 1975 from the banks of the [[Vychegda River]] in the [[Komi Republic]] of Russia. In 1983, a new species was brought into the genus, ''K. majmesculae''. ''K. majmesculae'' was first named in 1968 as a member of the genus ''[[Tichvinskia]]''. A third Russian species, ''K. serotinus'', was named in 1991. In 2002, ''Kapes bentoni'' was described from the [[Middle Triassic]] [[Otter Sandstone Formation]] of [[Devon, England]], extending the geographic range of ''Kapes''. In the same paper, ''K. serotinus'' was synonymized with ''K. majmesculae'' and another Russian species was assigned to ''Kapes'' called ''K. komiensis''. ''K. komiensis'' was first named in 1975 (in the same paper ''K. amaenus'' was named in) as a member of the genus ''[[Macrophon]]''.<ref name=SS02>{{Cite journal | last1 = Spencer | first1 = P. S. | last2 = Storrs | first2 = G. W. | doi = 10.1111/1475-4983.00245 | title = A Re-evaluation of Small Tetrapods from the Middle Triassic Otter Sandstone Formation of Devon, England | journal = Palaeontology | volume = 45 | issue = 3 | pages = 447 | year = 2002 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2002Palgy..45..447S }}</ref> In 2025, ''Kapes signus'' was described from the Middle Triassic of [[Catalonia]], Spain.<ref name="Riccetto2025">{{cite journal |last1=Riccetto |first1=M. |last2=Mujal |first2=E. |last3=Bolet |first3=A. |last4=De Jaime-Soguero |first4=C. |last5=De Esteban-Trivigno |first5=S. |last6=Fortuny |first6=J. |title=Tooth morphotypes shed light on the paleobiodiversity of Middle Triassic terrestrial vertebrate ecosystems from NE Iberian Peninsula (southwestern Europe) |journal=Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia |date=2025 |volume=131 |issue=1 |doi=10.54103/2039-4942/22340|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Description== The validity of the genus is based mainly on dental characteristics. On the [[maxilla|upper jaw]] there are four to five molariforms, one of which, placed middle, is mesial. A very large tooth located on the lower jaw. First four molariforms enlarge towards the posterior ends of the upper and lower jaws. Labial and lingual cusps on the lower teeth are almost the same height and located close to each other.<ref name=Spencer2000/> ''Kapes'' differs from ''[[Tichvinskia]]'' by being larger and the number and shape of the teeth.<ref name=Spencer2000>{{cite book|author=P. S. Spencer, M. J. Benton|url=https://bpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.bristol.ac.uk/dist/5/537/files/2019/07/2000Procol.pdf#page=10|title=Procolophonids from the Permo-Triassic of Russia (in The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia)|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=168–170|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230509062455/https://bpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.bristol.ac.uk/dist/5/537/files/2019/07/2000Procol.pdf#page=10|archive-date=May 9, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Phylogeny== It was defined as a member of the subfamily [[Procolophoninae]] by Cisneros ''et al''. (2008).<ref name=CJC08>{{Cite journal | last1 = Cisneros | first1 = J. C. | title = Phylogenetic relationships of procolophonid parareptiles with remarks on their geological record | doi = 10.1017/S1477201907002350 | journal = Journal of Systematic Palaeontology | volume = 6 | issue = 3 | pages = 345–366 | year = 2008 | bibcode = 2008JSPal...6..345C | s2cid = 84468714 }}</ref> Below is a [[cladogram]] from Ruta ''et al.'' (2011) showing the placement of ''Kapes'' within this subfamily:<ref name=RCLTM11>{{Cite journal | last1 = Ruta | first1 = M. | last2 = Cisneros | first2 = J. C. | last3 = Liebrecht | first3 = T. | last4 = Tsuji | first4 = L. A. | last5 = Müller | first5 = J. | title = Amniotes through major biological crises: Faunal turnover among Parareptiles and the end-Permian mass extinction | doi = 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01051.x | journal = Palaeontology | volume = 54 | issue = 5 | pages = 1117 | year = 2011 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2011Palgy..54.1117R }}</ref>

{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85% |label1=[[Procolophonidae]] |1={{clade |1=''[[Coletta (reptile)|Coletta seca]]'' |2=''[[Pintosaurus magnidentis]]'' |3=''[[Sauropareion anoplus]]'' |4=''[[Kitchingnathus untabeni]]'' |5={{clade |1=''[[Phaanthosaurus ignatjevi]]'' |2=''[[Phaanthosaurus simus]]''}} |6={{clade |label1=[[Theledectinae]] |1={{clade |1=''[[Eumetabolodon dongshengensis]]'' |2=''[[Theledectes perforatus]]'' }} |2={{clade |1=''[[Tichvinskia vjatkensis]]'' |2={{clade |label1=[[Leptopleuroninae]] |1={{clade |1=''[[Pentaedrusaurus ordosianus]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Neoprocolophon asiaticus]]'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Sclerosaurus armatus]]'' |2=''[[Scoloparia glyphanodon]]''}} |2={{clade |1=''[[Leptopleuron lacertinum]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Soturnia caliodon]]'' |2=''[[Hypsognathus fenneri]]''}} }} }} }} }} |label2=[[Procolophoninae]] |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''[[Eumetabolodon bathycephalus]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Procolophon trigoniceps]]'' |2=''[[Teratophon spinigenis]]'' |3=''[[Thelerpeton oppressus]]'' }} }} |2={{clade |1=''[[Timanophon raridentatus]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Thelephon contritus]]'' |2={{clade |1=''[[Anomoiodon liliensterni]]'' |label2='''''Kapes''''' |2={{clade |1='''''Kapes amaenus''''' |2='''''Kapes bentoni''''' |3='''''Kapes komiensis''''' |4='''''Kapes majmesculae''''' }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

In their [[phylogenetic analyses]], Butler ''et al''. (2023) placed two ''Kapes'' species, ''K. bentoni'' and ''K. majmesculae'', in [[Leptopleuroninae]] or in Procolophonidae, outside of both Leptopleuroninae and Procolophoninae.<ref name=Butler2023>{{Cite journal |last1=Butler |first1=R. J. |last2=Meade |first2=L. E. |last3=Cleary |first3=T. J. |last4=McWhirter |first4=K. T. |last5=Brown |first5=E. E. |last6=Kemp |first6=T. S. |last7=Benito |first7=J. |last8=Fraser |first8=N. C. |year=2023 |title=''Hwiccewyrm trispiculum'' gen. et sp. nov., a new leptopleuronine procolophonid from the Late Triassic of southwest England |journal=The Anatomical Record |volume=307 |issue=4 |pages=1390–1420 |doi=10.1002/ar.25316 |pmid=37735997 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Procolophoninae]] [[Category:Prehistoric reptile genera]] [[Category:Triassic parareptiles]] [[Category:Early Triassic reptiles of Europe]] [[Category:Middle Triassic reptiles of Europe]] [[Category:Early Triassic genus first appearances]] [[Category:Middle Triassic genus extinctions]]