Almasaurus fossil map
Where fossils of Almasaurus have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 230 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 230 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early tetrapods & amphibians |
|---|---|
| Lived | 237–227.3 million years ago (Carnian) |
| Periods | Triassic |
| Family | Almasauridae |
| Named by | Dutuit 1972 |
| Fossil records | 1 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Morocco |
| Rock formations | Timezgadiouine |
About Almasaurus
Almasaurus is an extinct genus of trematosaurian temnospondyl within the family Latiscopidae. It is known from several skulls and some postcranial material found from the Argana Formation in Morocco, which dates back to the Late Triassic.
When it was first named in 1972, Almasaurus was placed within its own superfamily, the Almasauroidea. Although the related latiscopid Latiscopus disjunctus possesses exoccipitals (the bones at the rear base of the skull) that are underplated (a feature that suggests that it is a member of the family Trematosauridae) Almasaurus is not considered to be a trematosaurid because it lacks such underplating. Almasaurus was considered to be a capitosaurian by Warren & Black (1985) because it shared several characters with the group, including a deeply notched squamosal (platelike part of the temporal bone) and a lacrimal flexure (curve in tear drainage canal), while supposedly exhibiting none of the characters associated with trematosaurians. However, more recent studies have concluded that Almasaurus is either a temnospondyl more basal than the clade formed from the dichotomy between Capitosauria and Trematosauria or that the genus is closely related to the trematosaurian family Metoposauridae, perhaps being a sister taxon of it.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Almasaurus (revision 1354842837), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q4733713.
