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Platypterygius americanus

Osteichthyes - Ophthalmosauridae

Taxonomy
Myopterygius americanus was named by Nace (1939). Its type specimen is University of Wyoming Geological Museum No. VP50, a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Myopterygius americanus type locality, which is in an Albian marine shale in the Mowry Shale Formation of Wyoming.

It was recombined as Platypterygius americanus by Nace (1939), McGowan (1972), Maisch and Matzke (2000), McGowan and Motani (2003), Maisch (2010), Ji et al. (2016).

Synonyms
  • Myopterygius petersoni was named by Nace (1941). Its type specimen is University of Wyoming Geological Museum, No. VP-190, a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is north of Upton, which is in a Cenomanian marine shale in the Belle Fourche Formation of Wyoming.

    It was synonymized subjectively with Platypterygius americanus by McGowan (1972).
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1939Platypterygius americanus Nace
1939Myopterygius americanus Nace pp. 674-685 figs. Pls. 1, 2
1941Myopterygius petersoni Nace pp. 908-914
1972Platypterygius americanus McGowan
2000Platypterygius americanus Maisch and Matzke p. 82
2003Platypterygius americanus McGowan and Motani
2010Platypterygius americanus Maisch
2016Platypterygius americanus Ji et al. p. 13

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
classOsteichthyes
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
RankNameAuthor
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Ichthyosauromorpha
—Ichthyosauriformes
—Ichthyopterygia(Owen 1840)
—Eoichthyosauria
—Ichthyosauria(de Blainville 1835)
—Baracromia
familyOphthalmosauridaeAndrews 1910
subfamilyPlatypterygiinaeArkhangelsky 2001
genusPlatypterygiusvon Huene 1922
speciesamericanus()

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.

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Invalid names: Myopterygius petersoni Nace 1941 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
R. L. Nace 1939"No intercentra retained in cervical region. Cervical and anterior dorsal centra with no conspicuous flattening of peripheral areas of posterior and anterior faces. Dorsal centra more than half as large as in Myopterygius campylodon (Carter), as figured by Owen (11, Fig. 3). Central depression of centra with sharper apex than in M. campylodon. Pronounced hypophyseal keel on 3d cervical centrum; keel progressively less conspicuous on succeeding centra, disappearing behind the 12th. Diapophysis and parapophysis of 3d cervical centrum connected by a low, sharp ridge of bone. Amphicoely extreme in the dorsal and anterior caudal regions, most conspicuously so at about the 20th centrum (3d dorsal). Zygapophyses coalesced to form a single median facet at least as far forward as the 5th cervical, possibly throughout the vertebral column. Three distal facets on the humerus, the third posterior in position and very small. Humerus and femur with enormously developed trochanteric masses extending almost their entire length. Anterior surface of femur with strong, sharp ridge extending from head to anterior margin of tibial facet."
R, L. Nace 1941 (Myopterygius petersoni)"Unique characters of the species are difficult to state because different species of Myopterygius have been based in some instances on different parts of the skeleton. Certain species cannot therefore be directly compared; others can be compared only in part. Significant characters of the present species, as contrasted with known material of other species, are as follows: Snout slender and extremely elongate; nasal bones short, slender, surficially extending anteriad only about one-third the length of the preserved part of the snout. Teeth, where preserved, moderately long and slender, with indistinct longitudinal flutings in the enamel; tooth roots expanded, club-like; posterior teeth somewhat thicker and more blunt than anterior teeth; alveolar grooves deep and narrow. Scapula robust, with very thick glenoid articular edge and nearly straight shaft. Femur with plane of trochanteric masses oblique to a plane transecting the tibial and fibular facets. Some phalangeal elements with marginal clefts or incisions on proximal and distal articular surfaces. Vertebrae, so far as known, essentially circular in outline, without conspicuous differences between vertical and transverse diameters."