A juvenile pleurosaurid (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia) from the Tithonian of the Mörnsheim Formation, Germany
Beccari, Victor (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences)
Villa, Andrea (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Jones, Marc E. H. (University College London)
Ferreira, Gabriel S. (University of Tübingen)
Glaw, Frank (Zoologische Staatssammlung München)
Rauhut, Oliver (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences)

Fecha:	2024
Resumen:	Late Jurassic rhynchocephalians from the Solnhofen Archipelago have been known for almost two centuries. The number of specimens and taxa is constantly increasing, but little is known about the ontogeny of these animals. The well-documented marine taxon Pleurosaurus is one of such cases. With over 15 described (and many more undescribed) specimens, there were no unambiguous juveniles so far. Some authors have argued that Acrosaurus, another common component of the Solnhofen Archipelago herpetofauna, might represent an early ontogenetic stage of Pleurosaurus, but the lack of proper descriptions for this taxon makes this assignment tentative, at best. Here, we describe the first unambiguous post-hatchling juvenile of Pleurosaurus and tentatively attribute it to Pleurosaurus cf. P. ginsburgi. The new specimen comes from the Lower Tithonian of the Mörnsheim Formation, Germany. This specimen is small, disarticulated, and incomplete, but preserves several of its craniomandibular bones and presacral vertebrae. It shares with Pleurosaurus a set of diagnostic features, such as an elongated and triangular skull, a low anterior flange in its dentition, and an elongated axial skeleton. It can be identified as a juvenile due to the presence of an unworn dentition, well-spaced posteriormost dentary teeth, a large gap between the last teeth and the coronoid process of the dentary, and poorly ossified vertebrae with unfused neural arches. Acrosaurus shares many anatomical features with both this specimen and Pleurosaurus, which could indicate that the two genera are indeed synonyms. The early ontogenetic stage inferred for the new Pleurosaurus specimen argues for an even earlier ontogenetic placement for specimens referred to Acrosaurus, the latter possibly pertaining to hatchlings.
Ayudas:	Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/BP-00038 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00620
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Materia:	Mesozoic ; Jurassic ; Pleurosauridae ; Sphenodontia ; Pleurosaurus
Publicado en:	The anatomical record (Hoboken), (2024) , ISSN 1932-8494

DOI: 10.1002/ar.25545
PMID: 39039747

24 p, 6.9 MB

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Documentos de investigación > Documentos de los grupos de investigación de la UAB > Centros y grupos de investigación (producción científica) > Ciencias > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
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