Phanerosaurus is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of diadectid reptiliomorph from the Early Permian of Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Fossils are known from the Leukersdorf Formation near Zwickau

Zwickau

Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...

. German paleontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer

Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer

Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer was a German palaeontologist.He was born at Frankfurt am Main.In 1832 von Meyer issued a work entitled Palaeologica, and in course of time he published a series of memoirs on various fossil organic remains: molluscs, crustaceans, fishes and higher vertebrata,...

 named the type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 P. naumanni in 1860 on the basis of several sacral

Sacrum

In vertebrate anatomy the sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the spine and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones. Its upper part connects with the last lumbar vertebra, and bottom part with the coccyx...

 and presacral vertebrae. A second species, P. pungnax, was named in 1882 but placed in its own genus Stephanospondylus

Stephanospondylus

Stephanospondylus is an extinct genus of diadectid reptiliomorph from the Early Permian of Germany. Fossils have been found in deposits of the Lower Rotliegend near Dresden. The type species S...

in 1905.

Description

Like those of other diadectids, the vertebrae of Phanerosaurus are very wide. The neural arches are very tall and extend beyond the centra

Body of vertebra

The body is the largest part of a vertebra, and is more or less cylindrical in shape. For vertebrates other than humans, this structure is usually called a centrum....

 with prominent zygapophyses projecting from either side. There are few distinctive features in the vertebrae of Phanerosaurus to distinguish it from other diadectids. One of the only unique characteristics are its shortened neural spines.