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Palaeophis oweni
Taxonomy
Palaeophis oweni was named by de Zigno (1881). Its type specimen is MGP-PD 6981Z, a set of vertebrae (anterior trunk vertebra), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Monte Duello, which is in a Bartonian marine limestone in the Orizzonte di Roncà Formation of Italy.
Sister species lacking formal opinion data
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1881 | Palaeophis oweni de Zigno p. 782 |
| 2020 | Palaeophis oweni Georgalis et al. |
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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.
†Palaeophis oweni de Zigno 1881
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| G. L. Georgalis et al. 2020 | Palaeophis oweni can be assigned to Palaeophiidae on the basis of its vertebrae being tall and lat- erally compressed, the presence of pterapophyses, the hor- izontality of the cotyle-condyle axis, the rather large cotyle and condyle, the presence of a second, small hypapophysis in its anterior trunk vertebrae (i.e., anterior hypapophysis, right ventrally to the cotyle), the distinct ventral projection of the paradiapophyses, the reduced prezygapophyses, and the presence of compressed prezygapophyseal buttresses that form a ridge extending from the dorsal border of the paradi- apophyses up to the prezygapophyseal articular facets (char- acters from Rage 1983a, 1984; Rage et al. 2003; Houssaye et al. 2013). Palaeophis oweni can be referred to the genus Palaeophis on the basis of the relatively small pterapophyses and the neural spine rising posteriorly from the level of the zygosphenal roof (characters from Rage 1984; Parmley and Case 1988; Rage et al. 2003, 2008; Parmley and DeVore 2005; Houssaye et al. 2013). Palaeophis oweni can be differ- entiated from all other species of the genus Palaeophis by the following combination of features: zygosphene thick and almost trapezoidal in shape when seen in anterior view, with its dorsal margin distinctly convex; cotyle large and slightly, in some cases, laterally compressed; small pterapophyses; massive and elongated paradiapophyses that extend ven- trally, well below the ventral level of the cotyle; posterior hypapophysis massive; neural spine high and posteriorly inclined; centrum not much widened anteriorly. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: subp = subphylum, p = phylum, uc = unranked clade | |||||
| References: Carroll 1988, Kiessling 2004 | |||||