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Saltopus elginensis

Reptilia

Taxonomy
Saltopus elginensis was named by Huene (1910). Its type specimen is NHMUK (formerly BMNH) R.3915, a partial skeleton (partial postcranial skeleton), and it is a mold. Its type locality is Lossiemouth West & East Quarries, Elgin, which is in a Carnian/Norian dune sandstone/sandstone in the Lossiemouth Sandstone Formation of the United Kingdom.

It was considered a nomen dubium by Welles (1984); it was considered a nomen dubium by Rauhut and Hungerbühler (2000).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1910Saltopus elginensis Huene p. 30 figs. Pl. 1
1914Saltopus elginensis Huene p. 12
1939Saltopus elginensis Kuhn p. 34
1940Saltopus elginensis Huene p. 281
1965Saltopus elginensis Simmons p. 57
1970Saltopus elginensis Steel p. 12
1970Saltopus elginensis Swinton p. 119
1988Saltopus elginensis Paul p. 252
2001Saltopus elginensis Clark p. 19
2004Saltopus elginensis Langer p. 27
2007Saltopus elginensis Naish and Martill p. 496
2010Saltopus elginensis Langer et al. p. 59
2011Saltopus elginensis Benton and Walker p. 287
2014Saltopus elginensis Marzola and Dalla Vecchia p. 13

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
RankNameAuthor
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Archosauromorpha(Huene 1946)
—Crocopoda
—ArchosauriformesGauthier 1986
—Eucrocopoda
—Archosauria()
informalAvemetatarsalia
—Ornithodira
—Dinosauromorpha
—Dinosauriformes
genusSaltopus
specieselginensis

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.

†Saltopus elginensis Huene 1910
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
M. J. Benton and A. D. Walker 2011Saltopus elginensis possesses synapomorphies of Archosauria, Avemetatarsalia, Dinosauromorpha, and Dinosauriformes, successive nested clades (see below). Comparison with other basal dinosauromorphs shows that Saltopus lacks the fused astragalocalcaneum and functionally didactyl pes of Lagerpeton (Sereno & Arcucci 1993), the robust pubis and reduced calcaneum of Pseudolagosuchus (Arcucci 1987), and probably the two fused dorsosacral vertebrae, elongate forelimb, very short iliac blade, and reduced calcaneum of Silesaurus (Dzik 2003). Saltopus shows no unique apomorphies in comparison with these and other taxa, so it could be regarded as a nomen dubium until a skull, or some better preserved postcranial remains come to light. However, its character coding (Table 2) is unique, being replicated in no other Triassic archosaur (Brusatte et al. 2010), and so the genus and species is valid.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialsubc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Diet: carnivoreg
Created: 2009-01-03 21:15:19
Modified: 2009-01-03 23:15:19
Source: g = genus, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Benton 1983, Hendy et al. 2009, Carroll 1988

Age range: base of the Carnian to the top of the Norian or 237.00000 to 208.50000 Ma

Collections: one only


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Carnian - Norian237.0 - 208.5United Kingdom (Scotland) Saltopus elginensis (type locality: 57948)