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Genus of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaur from the Middle Jurassic epoch From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Trematospondylus ("hole spinner"[1]) is a dubious genus of plesiosaurs from the Middle Jurassic of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The only named species is Trematospondylus macrocephalus. It is one of the earliest scientifically described plesiosaurs and historically has been the first plesiosaur named from Germany.[1] Preserved remains include seven vertebrae.
Trematospondylus Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
Order: | †Plesiosauria |
Family: | †Rhomaleosauridae |
Genus: | †Trematospondylus Quenstedt, 1858 |
Species | |
T. macrocephalus was first named by Quenstedt in 1858, who found the fossils in the layers of the Dentalienton Formation at Lochen mountain massif in the Zollernalbkreis of Baden-Württemberg.[2] Its species name likely derives from the Macrocephalus oolite that had been deposited directly above the fossils and is named after the ammonite Macrocephalites macrocephalus.[1] The genus name refers to a small opening at the articulation surface of the vertebrae.
Initially, Quenstedt was uncertain about the interrelationships of Trematospondylus and compared it to fishes, dinosaurs and cetiosaurs[2] (the latter had been considered to represent marine reptiles back then [3]). In 1861, he called it a plesiosaur and suggested affinities with Thaumatosaurus.[4]
Trematospondylus had been mentioned in a few additional works [5][6][7] but disappeared from the scientific literature until it got redescribed by Sven Sachs and colleagues in 2023.[1] The latter consider Trematospondylus macrocephalus a nomen dubium but also suggest affinities with rhomaleosaurids.
T. macrocephalus is known by seven large vertebrae, among them two caudals and a possible sacral vertebra. The other bones might represent caudals as well. They likely belonged to a mature individual that was similar to Rhomaleosaurus in size.[1]
Sachs et al. (2023) performed several phylogenetic analyses that nested Trematospondylus within Rhomaleosauridae.
Rhomaleosauridae | |
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