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Eurysternum wagleri

Reptilia

Discussion

From Anquetin et al. (2017:332): Eurysternum wagleri is based on a disarticulated, partial skeleton preserved in ventral view on a slab of limestone that Meyer (1839c) described based on its illustration only. The holotype was originally in possession of George Graf zu Münster of Bayreuth, Germany (Meyer 1839a, 1839c), but was later transferred to Munich (Wagner 1853, 1861b) where it was studied by many individuals (e.g., Maack 1869; Rütimeyer 1873a; Zittel 1877a; Oertel 1915). The holotype is currently missing from the BSPG and is therefore considered lost (Anquetin and Joyce 2014). A poorly crafted cast of this specimen is nevertheless available at the Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge, United Kingdom (Joyce 2003).

Taxonomy
Eurysternum wagleri was named by Meyer (1839). Its type specimen is a single specimen, which is the holotype by monotypy. The holotype was last housed in Munich, but is now considered lost (Wellnhofer, 1967). A poorly crafted cast exists in the collections of the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sc, a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Solnhofen (BSPGM Munich coll), which is in a Tithonian lagoonal/restricted shallow subtidal lime mudstone in the Solnhofen Formation of Germany. It is the type species of Eurysternum.

It was recombined as Acichelys redenbacheri by Meyer (1854), Lydekker (1889).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1839Eurysternum wagleri Meyer p. 75
1854Acichelys redenbacheri Meyer p. 579
1889Acichelys redenbacheri Lydekker pp. 151-152
1965Eurysternum wagleri Bräm p. 164
2003Eurysternum wagleri Joyce
2012Eurysternum wagleri Karl et al.
2014Eurysternum wagleri Anquetin and Joyce
2017Eurysternum wagleri Anquetin et al. pp. 329-330
2020Eurysternum wagleri Joyce and Mäuser

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
RankNameAuthor
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
—Testudinata(Oppel 1811)
—Thalassochelydia
genusEurysternum
specieswagleri

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.

†Eurysternum wagleri Meyer 1839
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
J. Anquetin et al. 2017Eurysternum wagleri differs from all other “eurysternids” by having a pentagonal carapace outline with its greatest width at the level of peripherals VII–VIII and a slightly concave margin between peripherals VIII–XI, a broad trapezoidal nuchal forming a wide nuchal notch, a wide median cervical scute, retention of developed costo-peripheral fontanelles in medium-sized individuals (closed or greatly reduced in adults), a deep pygal notch, a well-developed radiating pattern on vertebrals II–IV, a contribution of vertebral V to the posterior carapace margin, and a wider than long central plastral fontanelle.
W. G. Joyce and M. Mäuser 2020Eurysternum wagleri can most easily be differentiated from all other known representatives of Thalassochelydia by the following combination of characteristics: a thin, pentagonal shell of intermediate size (carapace length up to 50cm), a deep pygal notch, reduced carapacial fontanelles in adults, contribution of vertebral V to posterior margin of shell, a ligamentous bridge, well developed plastral fontanelles, and poor connection of the epi/entoplastron with the hyoplastra