{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Late Triassic, {{fossil_range|228|215}} | image = Malerisaurus skeletal.png | image_upright = 1.15 | image_caption = Skeletal reconstruction | image2 = Malerisaurus BW.jpg | image2_caption = ''Malerisaurus robinsonae'' | parent_authority = | taxon = Malerisaurus | authority = Chatterjee, 1980 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *†'''''M. robinsonae''''' <small>Chatterjee, 1980 (type)</small> *†'''''M. langstoni''''' <small>Chatterjee, 1986</small> }}
'''''Malerisaurus''''' is an extinct genus of archosauromorph known from Telangana of India and Texas of the USA.<ref name=Malerisaurus>{{cite journal |author=Sankar Chatterjee |year=1980 |title=''Malerisaurus'', A New Eosuchian Reptile from the Late Triassic of India |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B |volume=291 |issue=1048 |pages=163–200 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1980.0131|bibcode=1980RSPTB.291..163C |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=M.langstoni>{{cite journal |author=Sankar Chatterjee |year=1986 |title=''Malerisaurus langstoni'', a new diapsid reptile from the Triassic of Texas |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=297–312 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1986.10011627}}</ref>
==Description== ''Malerisaurus'' was a medium-sized archosauromorph which averaged 1.3 meters in length.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://palaeos.com/mesozoic/triassic/carnian2.htm |title=Palaeos Mesozoic: Triassic: Late Triassic: Carnian - 2 |access-date=2012-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224114823/http://palaeos.com/mesozoic/triassic/carnian2.htm |archive-date=2013-12-24 }}</ref> ''Malerisaurus'' is known from the holotype ISIR 150, two articulated and almost complete skeletons which were discovered as the presumable gastric contents of two skeletons of ''Parasuchus hislopi''. It was collected from the Lower Maleri Formation, dating to the late Carnian or early Norian stage of the Late Triassic. ''Malerisaurus robinsonae'' was a small archosauromorph, probably capable of climbing trees and swimming. The skull has some adaptations to a carnivorous diet, but is nevertheless unspecialised and probably more of an insectivore. ''Malerisaurus'', seen as a diapsid skull, shows primitive and advanced facies in its unossified laterosphenoid, absence of antorbital and mandibular fenestrae, gracile form, primitive girdles, elongated cervicals and absence of dermal armour. Chatterjee (1980) assigned it to the suborder Prolacertiformes, which currently represents four families: Sharovipterygidae, Protorosauridae, Prolacertidae and Tanystropheidae. Chatterjee provisionally regarded ''Malerisaurus'' as close to ''Protorosaurus''.<ref name=Malerisaurus/>
A second species, ''M. langstoni'', is known from the holotype TMM 31099-11, a partial but poorly preserved skeleton. It was collected in the Otis Chalk Quarry 2 (TMM 31099 locality) from the Colorado City Formation, Chinle Group, dating to the early Carnian stage of the Late Triassic, about 228–227.5 million years ago. It was found in the Howard County of Texas.<ref name=M.langstoni/> Spielmann ''et al.'' (2006) redescribed the type material of ''M. langstoni'' and concluded that it's indistinguishable from the type species of ''Trilophosaurus'', ''T. buettneri'', and thus ''M. langstoni'' represents its junior synonym.<ref name=JASetal06>Spielmann, J.A., Lucas, S.G., Hunt, A.P., and Heckert. 2006. [https://libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Heckert_A_2006_37_Reinterpretation.pdf Reinterpretation of the holotype of ''Malerisaurus langstoni'', a diapsid reptile from the Upper Triassic Chinle Group of West Texas]. ''The Triassic-Jurassic Terrestrial Transition.'' New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 37:543-547.</ref>
Nesbitt ''et al.'' (2017) reinterpreted ''Malerisaurus'' as an allokotosaurian archosauromorph belonging to the family Azendohsauridae.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Sterling J. Nesbitt |author2=Michelle R. Stocker |author3=Martín Ezcurra |author4=Nicholas C. Fraser |author5=Andrew B. Heckert |author6=Adam Marsh |author7=William Parker |author8=Bill Mueller |author9=Adam C. Pritchard |year=2017 |title=The 'strange reptiles' of the Triassic: the morphology, ecology, and taxonomic diversity of the clade Allokotosauria illuminated by the discovery of an early diverging member |journal=Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 77th Annual Meeting Program & Abstracts |pages=168–169 |url=http://vertpaleo.org/Annual-Meeting/Annual-Meeting-Home/SVP-2017-program-book-7-20-17a-(1).aspx |archive-date=2017-08-25 |access-date=2017-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825060904/http://vertpaleo.org/Annual-Meeting/Annual-Meeting-Home/SVP-2017-program-book-7-20-17a-(1).aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2021, Nesbitt ''et al.'' once again looked at ''Malerisaurus'', and found it to be an early-diverging, but late surviving, carnivorous azendohsaurid. This study also found ''M. langstoni'' to be a valid and distinct species of ''Malerisaurus''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nesbitt|first1=Sterling J.|last2=Stocker|first2=Michelle R.|last3=Ezcurra|first3=Martín D.|last4=Fraser|first4=Nicholas C.|last5=Heckert|first5=Andrew B.|last6=Parker|first6=William G.|last7=Mueller|first7=Bill|last8=Sengupta|first8=Saradee|last9=Bandyopadhyay|first9=Saswati|last10=Pritchard|first10=Adam C.|last11=Marsh|first11=Adam D.|title=Widespread azendohsaurids (Archosauromorpha, Allokotosauria) from the Late Triassic of western USA and India|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/spp2.1413|journal=Papers in Palaeontology|year=2021|volume=8|language=en|doi=10.1002/spp2.1413|s2cid=245049571|issn=2056-2802|doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Etymology== ''Malerisaurus'' was named by Sankar Chatterjee in 1980 and the type species is ''Malerisaurus robinsonae'' named in honour of the British Paleontologist who worked in India, Pamela Lamplugh Robinson.<ref name=Malerisaurus/> A second species, ''M. langstoni'', was named by him in 1986.<ref name=M.langstoni/> The generic name is derived from the name of the Lower Maleri Formation, where the holotype of the type species was collected, and ''sauros'', Greek for "lizard".<ref name=Malerisaurus/> The specific name of ''M. langstoni'' honors the American paleontologist and professor Wann Langston, Jr.<ref name=M.langstoni/>
== Classification == In their 2024 review of ''Malerisaurus'', Sengupta, Ezcurra & Bandyopadhyay analyzed its phylogenetic placement within Azendohsauridae. They recovered ''Malerisaurus langstoni'' as the sister taxon to ''Puercosuchus'', with this clade in turn sister to ''Malerisaurus robinsonae'', together forming the clade Malerisaurinae. Their results are displayed in the cladogram below:<ref name=Sengupta2024>{{Cite journal |last1=Sengupta |first1=Saradee |last2=Ezcurra |first2=Martín D. |last3=Bandyopadhyay |first3=Saswati |date=2024-01-26 |title=The redescription of ''Malerisaurus robinsonae'' (Archosauromorpha: Allokotosauria) from the Upper Triassic lower Maleri Formation, Pranhita‐Godavari Basin, India |journal=The Anatomical Record |language=en |doi=10.1002/ar.25392 |issn=1932-8486}}</ref>
{{clade |{{clade |1=Trilophosauridae |label2=Azendohsauridae |2={{clade |label1=Malerisaurinae |1={{clade |1='''''Malerisaurus robinsonae''''' |2={{clade |1='''''Malerisaurus langstoni''''' |2=''Puercosuchus'' }} }} |3={{clade |1=''Pamelaria'' |2={{clade |1=''Shringasaurus'' |2={{clade |1=''Azendohsaurus laaroussii'' |2=''Azendohsaurus madagaskarensis'' }} }} }} }} }}|label1=Allokotosauria}}
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Portal|Paleontology}}
{{Allokotosauria|R.}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q739142}}
Category:Azendohsauridae Category:Prehistoric reptile genera Category:Late Triassic reptiles of Asia Category:Late Triassic reptiles of North America Category:Triassic India Category:Fossils of India Category:Triassic geology of Texas Category:Paleontology in Texas Category:Fossil taxa described in 1980