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Phalarodon atavus
Taxonomy
Ichthyosaurus atavus was named by Quenstedt (1852) [year of publication is listed as 1851-52
year of publication is listed as 1851-52
year of publication is listed as 1851-52
year of publication is listed as 1851-52
year of publication is listed as 1851-52
year of publication is listed as 1851-52
year of publication is listed as 1851-52]. Its type specimen is GPIT/RE/411 (lectotype), a partial skull, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Calw-Althengstett, which is in a Pelsonian marine horizon in Germany.
It was recombined as Mixosaurus atavus by Baur (1887), Merriam (1908), von Huene (1916), Kuhn (1971), Motani (1999) and McGowan and Motani (2003); it was recombined as Contectopalatus atavus by Maisch and Matzke (1998) and Maisch (2010); it was recombined as Phalarodon atavus by Quenstedt (1852), Liu et al. (2013) and Ji et al. (2016).
It was recombined as Mixosaurus atavus by Baur (1887), Merriam (1908), von Huene (1916), Kuhn (1971), Motani (1999) and McGowan and Motani (2003); it was recombined as Contectopalatus atavus by Maisch and Matzke (1998) and Maisch (2010); it was recombined as Phalarodon atavus by Quenstedt (1852), Liu et al. (2013) and Ji et al. (2016).
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1851 | Ichthyosaurus atavus von Quenstedt pp. 129-130 figs. Pl. 6, figs. 7-10 |
| 1852 | Phalarodon atavus Quenstedt figs. 3-9 |
| 1852 | Ichthyosaurus atavus Quenstedt pp. 129-130 figs. Pl. 6, figs. 7-10 |
| 1887 | Mixosaurus atavus Baur p. 840 |
| 1908 | Mixosaurus atavus Merriam p. 90 |
| 1916 | Mixosaurus atavus von Huene p. 3 |
| 1971 | Mixosaurus atavus Kuhn p. 22 |
| 1998 | Contectopalatus atavus Maisch and Matzke p. 115 |
| 1999 | Mixosaurus atavus Motani fig. 1 |
| 2001 | Ichthyosaurus atavus Maisch and Matzke pp. 1128-1129 |
| 2003 | Mixosaurus atavus McGowan and Motani |
| 2010 | Contectopalatus atavus Maisch |
| 2013 | Phalarodon atavus Liu et al. figs. 3-9 |
| 2016 | Phalarodon atavus Ji et al. p. 9 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
†Phalarodon atavus Quenstedt 1852
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| M. W. Maisch and A. T. Matzke 2001 | Large to very large mixosaurid, skull length probably up to 70 cm; orbit moderately large; postorbital segment of skull about one-half the length of orbit; premaxilla with very long and high posterior spur taking part only in anterior and anteroventral margin of external naris; maxilla longer than in M. cornalianus with long, broad and strongly recurved processus postnarialis separating lacrimal and nasal and broadly contacting prefrontal; nasal strongly rugose and bulging just dorsal to the naso-premaxillary suture; temporal fenestra of moderate size, situated far to posterior and overhung in characteristic manner by high anterodorsal sheet of supratemporal, bordered by parietal, supratemporal, postorbital and postfrontal; supratemporal very large, reaching far down on the lateral surface of the cheek; squamosal very large and almost quadrangular, hiding quadratojugal almost entirely in lateral view; jugal with very long and narrow ramus postorbitalis reaching one-half of the orbital height; postorbital large with well-developed lamina posterior; nasal, frontal and parietal forming very high and narrow sagittal crest for muscle insertion, lateral to which the skull roof is deeply depressed and forms two very large triangular areas bordered anteriorly by the nasal rugosity and laterally by a strong crista supraorbitalis formed of the lateral portions of prefrontal and postfrontal; parietal foramen situated close to the posterior margin of the skull, probably entirely within parietals; quadrate with very wide, fan-shaped lamina ascendens; vomer long and slender, reaching posteriorly beyond posterior margin of choana for one choanal length; choana bordered by vomer medially, palatine posteriorly and laterally and premaxilla anteriorly; palatine large, reaching back to anterior margin of subtemporal fenestra as a narrow spur; pterygoids very large, reaching anteriorly to the middle of the choana, contacting each other along the midline probably for their entire length, forming a strong sagittal keel posteriorly; long slender posteromedial processes of pterygoid present which are also sagittally fused ( ®de v. Huene 1916); quadrate ramus of pterygoid very long and robust, bearing deep posteromedial recess probably for attachment of part of the M. pterygoideus; high lamina ascendens present along the entire quadrate ramus of pterygoid; parasphenoid with well-defined basipterygoid processes, one single median opening for entrance of carotid artery; dentary drawn out posteriorly into lateral and medial lamellae surrounding the dorsal portion of the surangular; maxillary teeth set in distinct alveoli and very large, showing labyrinthine infolding of the roots, only nine or (at most) ten maxillary teeth present; dentary teeth smaller, equally thecodontous; anterior and middle dentary teeth and posterior (and possibly also anterior) premaxillary teeth conical, slender and bluntly pointed, posterior dentary and maxillary teeth conical, more robust, with rounded tips; roots of most large and fully erupted teeth with characteristic deep apicobasal groove in the centre of both labial and lingual side, giving it an 8-shaped cross section. | |
| J. Liu et al. 2013 | Deep groove present on the root of most large and fully grown teeth; dental groove absent along the entire tooth-bearing jaw margin; homodont dentition with conical teeth (present also in Mixosaurus cornalianus); ventral margin of scapula straight (convergent in Chaohusaurus); metacarpal V larger than distal carpal 4 (modified after Maisch and Matzke 2001) |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: o = order | |||||
| Reference: Kiessling 2004 | |||||
Age range: Anisian or 247.20000 to 242.00000 Ma
Collections (3 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anisian | Germany (Sachsen-Anhalt) | Mixosaurus atavus (138123) | |
| Pelsonian | China (Yunnan) | Mixosaurus atavus (123839) | |
| Pelsonian | Germany (Baden-Württemberg) | Ichthyosaurus atavus (type locality: 104759) |