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- Title
The cranial anatomy of Chinese placodonts and the phylogeny of Placodontia ( Diapsida: Sauropterygia).
- Authors
Neenan, James M.; Li, Chun; Rieppel, Olivier; Scheyer, Torsten M.
- Abstract
Placodonts are Triassic marine reptiles that inhabited the eastern and western margins of the Tethys Ocean (modern South China and Europe/ Middle East). Although the crania of European taxa are relatively well understood, those of Chinese taxa have not been extensively studied, and most of them have not been incorporated into a comprehensive phylogeny. Here we present the first reconstructions of all known Chinese placodont holotype skulls using micro-computed tomographic ( μCT) scanning and/or detailed anatomical study. We also present the first phylogenetic analyses that incorporate all placodont genera using a general diapsid matrix that includes postcranial characters, and a placodont-only cranial matrix. Results vary between the matrices; however, both support a monophyletic Placodontia with eastern taxa interspaced throughout, indicating no major separation between the eastern and western Tethyan realms. Support is strong for a western Tethyan origin of Placodontia, although the highly nested Placochelyidae first appear in the upper Middle Triassic of the eastern Tethys. Thus, all placodont clades appear to have originated in a period of intense speciation during the Middle Triassic. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London
- Subjects
PLACODONTIA; REPTILE phylogeny; CRANIOMETRY; REPTILE classification; COMPUTED tomography; GENETIC speciation
- Publication
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2015, Vol 175, Issue 2, p415
- ISSN
0024-4082
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/zoj.12277