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The basal reptile Thuringothyris mahlendorffae (Amniota: Eureptilia) from the Lower Permian of Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2017

Johannes Müller ,
David S. Berman ,
Amy C. Henrici ,
Thomas Martens  and
Stuart S. Sumida
Johannes Müller
Affiliation:
Humboldt-Universität, Museum für Naturkunde, 10099 Berlin, Germany,
David S. Berman
Affiliation:
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, ,
Amy C. Henrici
Affiliation:
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, ,
Thomas Martens
Affiliation:
Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein Gotha, Museum der Natur, PF 100319, D-99853 Gotha, Germany,
Stuart S. Sumida
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, 5500 University Parkway, San Bernardino 92407-2397,
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Abstract

The skeletal anatomy of the Early Permian eureptile Thuringothyris mahlendorffae from the Bromacker Quarry, Germany, is redescribed on the basis of several new specimens. The taxon retains some plesiomorphic characters, such as an ectopterygoid and a tabular, but it also possesses low neural spines and nonswollen neural arches, a combination that is unique for early eureptiles. A phylogenetic analysis places Thuringothyris as the sister taxon of Captorhinidae, excluding any potential “protorothyridid” affinities. Implications of this study are that the swollen neural arches of captorhinids and araeosceloids might have evolved independently, that a downturned rostrum occurred only later in captorhinid evolution, and that the European Permian is important to the understanding of the origin of eureptiles.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 80 , Issue 4 , July 2006 , pp. 726 - 739
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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