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Yechilacerta
Taxonomy
Yechilacerta was named by Xing et al. (2023). Its type is Yechilacerta yingliangia.
It was assigned to Gilmoreteiidae by Xing et al. (2023).
It was assigned to Gilmoreteiidae by Xing et al. (2023).
Species
Y. yingliangia (type species)
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Yechilacerta Xing 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.
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| L. Xing et al. 2023 | Diagnosis. A large lizard (head length ∼100 mm) characterized by: coarse tuberculate cranial sculpture; sculpture on the posterolateral surface of the mandible; asymmetrical multicuspid marginal teeth; a robust jugo-quadrate bar; strong sutural joints between the jugal, quadrate, squamosal and pterygoids; and a reduced interpterygoid vacuity.
Differential diagnosis. Yechilacerta is distinguished from other polyglyphanodontians by: the combination of a complete jugo-quadrate bar; a relatively short, broad frontal with little orbital emargination; a strongly reduced interpterygoid vacuity with apposition of the pterygoid palatal processes; sutural contacts between the quadrate, pterygoid, squamosal and jugal; a parietal that is emarginated by the upper temporal fenestrae; a shelf rather than a lateral fossa for the superficial adductor muscles on the surangular; ornamentation on the posterolateral surface of the mandible; and 30 presacral vertebrae. With many gilmoreteiids and Polyglyphanodon, Yechilacerta shares: the contact or near contact of the vomer and pterygoid; the hypertrophied splenial extending to, or almost to the symphysis; the jugal fully exposed and deep below the orbit; the lower temporal fenestra extending below the posterior half of the orbit (due to the placement and orientation of the postorbital process of the jugal); the elongated posterior process of the postorbital; and a maxillary facial process that is both dorsoventrally and anterolaterally deep. With Tianyusaurus and some specimens of Polyglyphanodon, Yechilacerta shares a complete lower temporal bar, and with Tianyusaurus further shares the strong sutural contacts between the quadrate, jugal, squamosal and pterygoid (contra Tuberocephalosaurus, Aprisaurus, Darchansaurus, Cherminsaurus, Erdenetosaurus, Gilmoreteius and all other known polyglyphanodontian and non-polyglyphanodontian lizards) and the possession of a mandibular shelf to accommodate the superficial adductor insertion. Yechilacerta differs from Tianyusaurus, Aprisaurus, Tubercephalosaurus, Darchasaurus, and Gilmoreteius in: lacking caniniform teeth in the anterior maxilla; the broad, vertically oriented squamosal; the broader frontal; the reduced entry of the postfrontal into the supratemporal fenestra; and the short laterally (rather than posterolaterally) oriented supratemporal processes of the parietal. With Tubercephalosaurus but not Tianyusaurus, Yechilacerta shares an almost complete closure of the interpterygoid vacuity except in its most posterior part, and the possession of thick tuberculate sculpture on the skull roofing bones, extending along the orbital margins of the prefrontal and postfrontal, although the sculpture is more developed in Yechilacerta. Yechilacerta differs from Polyglyphanodon, Adamisaurus and Funiusaurus in, and shares with other gilmoreteiids, the possession of multicuspid teeth that are spatulate and not labiolingually expanded. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: c = class, subp = subphylum, uc = unranked clade | |||||
| References: Hendy et al. 2009, Kiessling 2004, Carroll 1988 | |||||
Age range: Maastrichtian or 72.20000 to 66.00000 Ma
Collections (2 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maastrichtian | China (Jiangxi) | Y. yingliangia (232698 232699) |