Heteropelta boboi n. gen., n. sp. an armored archosauriform (Reptilia: Archosauromorpha) from the Middle Triassic of Italy
Dalla Vecchia, Fabio (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Heteropelta boboi is a new archosauriform reptile from the upper Anisian of northeastern Italy represented by a fragment of dorsal armor with a row of neural arches of the dorsal vertebrae. The dorsal armor of the new taxon is composed of two columns of paramedian osteoderms and at least six columns of lateral osteoderms. Unlike other armored archosaurs, the osteoderms are imbricated with the posterior osteoderm overlapping the anterior one. The low neural arches bear small neural spines and long postzygapophyses. The osteoderms of the lateral columns increase in size and change in shape from the most medial to the most lateral columns. Among the Archosauriformes, only the non-archosaur proterochampsians Vancleavea campi, Litorosuchus somnii, and the doswelliids have dorsal armor comprised of more than two columns of osteoderms per side, but the morphology and arrangement of their osteoderms is unlike those of the new Italian taxon. A cladistic analysis of Archosauromorpha positions Heteropelta boboi as either a basal phytosaur or a basal suchian. However, a second cladistic analysis focused on armored archosaurs alternatively positions the new taxon as a basal archosauriform, basal suchian, basal loricatan or crocodylomorph. Better resolution of the phylogenetic relationships of Heteropelta boboi will likely be obtained only with the discovery of cranial and postcranial remains associated with its diagnostic armor elements.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Reptiles ; Archosauriformes ; Dorsal armor ; Osteoderms ; Middle Triassic ; Alps ; Italy
Published in:	PeerJ, Vol. 9 (November 2021) , art. e12468, ISSN 2167-8359

DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12468
PMID: 34820195

29 p, 45.0 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
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