Dinocephalosaurus orientalis Li, 2003: a remarkable marine archosauromorph from the Middle Triassic of southwestern China

被引:3
作者
Spiekman, Stephan N. F. [1 ]
Wang, Wei [2 ]
Zhao, Lijun [3 ]
Rieppel, Olivier [4 ]
Fraser, Nicholas C. [5 ]
Li, Chun [2 ]
机构
[1] Staatl Museum Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, D-10191 Stuttgart, Germany
[2] Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Vertebrate Palaeontol & Palaeoanthropol, Key Lab Vertebrate Evolut & Human Origins, Beijing 100044, Peoples R China
[3] Zhejiang Museum Nat Hist, Hangzhou 310014, Peoples R China
[4] Field Museum Nat Hist, 1400 Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60605 USA
[5] Natl Museums Scotland, Chambers St, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, Scotland
关键词
late Anisian; marine reptile; non-archosauriform; southern China; MIXOSAURID ICHTHYOSAUR PHALARODON; GUIZHOU PROVINCE; EARLY EVOLUTION; 1ST RECORD; PROTOROSAUR; REPTILIA; DIAPSIDA; SAUROPTERYGIA; ANATOMY; PANXIAN;
D O I
10.1017/S175569102400001X
中图分类号
P [天文学、地球科学];
学科分类号
07 ;
摘要
The non-archosauriform archosauromorph Dinocephalosaurus orientalis was first described from the Upper Member of the Guanling Formation (late Anisian, Middle Triassic) of Guizhou Province by Li in 2003 on the basis of a complete articulated skull and the first three cervical vertebrae exposed in dorsal to right lateral view. Since then, additional specimens have been discovered in southwestern China. Here, five newly discovered specimens are described for the first time, and redescriptions of the holotype IVPP V13767 and another referred specimen, IVPP V13898, are provided. Together, these permit the description of the complete skeleton of this remarkable long-necked marine reptile. The postcranial skeleton is as much as 6 metres long, and characterised by its long tail and even longer neck. The appendicular skeleton exhibits a high degree of skeletal paedomorphosis recalling that of many sauropterygians, but the skull and neck are completely inconsistent with sauropterygian affinities. The palate does not extend back over the basisphenoid region and lacks any development of the closed condition typical of sauropterygians. The arrangement of cranial elements, including the presence of narial fossae, is very similar to that seen in another long-necked archosauromorph, Tanystropheus hydroides, which at least in part represents a convergence related to an aquatic piscivorous lifestyle. The long and low cervical vertebrae support exceptionally elongate cervical ribs that extend across multiple intervertebral joints and contribute to a 'stiffening bundle of ribs' extending along the entire ventral side of the neck, as in many other non-crocopodan archosauromorphs. The functional significance of the extraordinarily elongate neck is hard to discern but it presumably played a key role in feeding, and it is probably analogous to the elongate necks seen in pelagic, long-necked plesiosaurs. Dinocephalosaurus orientalis was almost certainly a fully marine reptile and even gave birth at sea.
引用
收藏
页码:218 / 250
页数:33
相关论文
共 76 条
[1]  
Borsuk-Bialynicka Magdalena, 2009, Palaeontologia Polonica, P203
[2]   Macroevolutionary patterns in the evolutionary radiation of archosaurs (Tetrapoda: Diapsida) [J].
Brusatte, Stephen L. ;
Benton, Michael J. ;
Lloyd, Graeme T. ;
Ruta, Marcello ;
Wang, Steve C. .
EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH, 2010, 101 :367-382
[3]   The Sail-Backed Reptile Ctenosauriscus from the Latest Early Triassic of Germany and the Timing and Biogeography of the Early Archosaur Radiation [J].
Butler, Richard J. ;
Brusatte, Stephen L. ;
Reich, Mike ;
Nesbitt, Sterling J. ;
Schoch, Rainer R. ;
Hornung, Jahn J. .
PLOS ONE, 2011, 6 (10)
[4]   The Enigmatic Marine Reptile Nanchangosaurus from the Lower Triassic of Hubei, China and the Phylogenetic Affinities of Hupehsuchia [J].
Chen, Xiao-hong ;
Motani, Ryosuke ;
Cheng, Long ;
Jiang, Da-yong ;
Rieppel, Olivier .
PLOS ONE, 2014, 9 (07)
[5]  
Chun L, 2003, ACTA GEOL SIN-ENGL, V77, P419
[6]   A new archosauromorph from South America provides insights on the early diversification of tanystropheids [J].
De-Oliveira, Tiane M. ;
Pinheiro, Felipe L. ;
Stock Da-Rosa, Atila Augusto ;
Dias-Da-Silva, Sergio ;
Kerber, Leonardo .
PLOS ONE, 2020, 15 (04)
[7]   The Early Triassic rhynchosaur Mesosuchus browni and the interrelationships of basal archosauromorph reptiles [J].
Dilkes, DW .
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON SERIES B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 1998, 353 (1368) :501-541
[8]   An early Late Triassic long-necked reptile with a bony pectoral shield and gracile appendages [J].
Dzik, Jerzy ;
Sulej, Tomasz .
ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA, 2016, 61 (04) :805-823
[9]   The rise of the ruling reptiles and ecosystem recovery from the Permo-Triassic mass extinction [J].
Ezcurra, Martin D. ;
Butler, Richard J. .
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, 2018, 285 (1880)
[10]   The phylogenetic relationships of basal archosauromorphs, with an emphasis on the systematics of proterosuchian archosauriforms [J].
Ezcurra, Martin D. .
PEERJ, 2016, 4