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Palaeomedusa testa

Reptilia - Eurysternidae

Taxonomy
Thalassemys marina was named by von Meyer (1860). Its type specimen is SMNS 10817, a partial shell (a partial carapace with associated steinkern and the right half of a plastron), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Compsognathus type, Kapfelberg (BSP), which is in a Kimmeridgian lagoonal/restricted shallow subtidal limestone in the Painten Formation of Germany.

It was synonymized subjectively with Eurysternum crassipes by Wagner (1861); it was synonymized subjectively with Eurysternum wagleri by Bräm (1965); it was recombined as Palaeomedusa testa by Meyer (1860), Fraas (1903), Joyce (2003) and Anquetin et al. (2017).

Synonyms
  • Eurysternum crassipes was named by Wagner (1861). Its type specimen is BSPG AS I 818, a partial skeleton (partial anterior half of a carapace with skull, articulated cervical series, and complete right and partial left forelimbs), and it is a 3D body fossil.

    It was synonymized objectively with Palaeomedusa testa by Anquetin et al. (2017).
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1859Eurysternum crassipes Wagner p. 553
1860Palaeomedusa testa Meyer p. 136 figs. plate 20, fig. 2
1860Thalassemys marina von Meyer p. 72 figs. plate 20, fig. 2
1861Eurysternum crassipes Wagner
1892Eurysternum crassipes Lortet p. 24
1903Palaeomedusa testa Fraas p. 72
2003Palaeomedusa testa Joyce
2017Palaeomedusa testa Anquetin et al.

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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
familyEurysternidaeDollo 1886
genusPalaeomedusaMeyer 1860
speciestesta()

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.

†Palaeomedusa testa von Meyer 1860
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Invalid names: Eurysternum crassipes Wagner 1861 [objective synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
J. Anquetin et al. 2017Palaeomedusa testa differs from all other “eurysternids” by having an oval carapace that is narrow anteriorly, reduced to absent costo-peripheral fontanelles, an anteriorly narrow vertebral I that only contacts the cervicals anteriorly, a shallow nuchal notch, and stout manual digits.