Bystrowiella
| Bystrowiella Temporal range: Middle Triassic, | |
|---|---|
| |
| Bystrowiella schumanni | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | †Chroniosuchia |
| Family: | †Bystrowianidae |
| Genus: | †Bystrowiella Witzmann, Schoch & Maisch, 2008 |
| Species | |
Bystrowiella is an extinct genus of bystrowianid chroniosuchians from upper Middle Triassic (Ladinian age) deposits of Kupferzell and Vellberg, northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany.[1]
Discovery and naming
It was first named by Florian Witzmann, Rainer R. Schoch and Michael W. Maisch in 2008, from a complete osteoderm fused with tip of neural spine (SMNS 91034, the holotype), partial osteoderms (SMNS 91036, 91037) and vertebrae (SMNS 81698, 81871–81874, 81876, 81877, 81879). The type species is Bystrowiella schumanni. The genus is named in honour of Dr. Alexey Bystrow, a Russian paleontologist and the species in honour of Schumann family. Bystrowiellas closest relative was Synesuchus.[1]
B. schumanni is the first bystrowianid identified outside Russia and China.[2]
Description
Bystrowiella is known by cranial and postcranial material. The premaxilla has an edentulous crest lateral to the choana; the premaxillary teeth are of different sizes, the jugal has a noticeably long and narrow anterior process; the postparietals and tabulars are enlarged and form facets for connection with the anteriormost osteoderm. Prefrontal and postfrontal parts are not in contact, a typical charasteristic of chroniosuchids. However, the antorbital fenestra and the internarial fontanelle are absent, a feature not common to chroniosuchids. The postcranial skeleton is similar to that of amniotes. The interclavicle is thin, with a distinct parasternal process; the humerus is narrow, with a short supinator process; trunk ribs are long and curved, with thin shaft without additional protrusions; the rib heads are widely spaced.[2]
Phylogeny
It was assigned to bystrowianids due to the characteristics of the vertebrae and osteoderms.[2] Below is a cladogram after Novikov (2018) showing internal relationships of bystrowianids based on differences in their osteoderms:[3]
| Bystrowianidae |
| ||||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ a b Florian Witzmann; Rainer R. Schoch & Michael W. Maisch (2008). "A relict basal tetrapod from Germany: first evidence of a Triassic chroniosuchian outside Russia". Naturwissenschaften. 95 (1): 67–72. Bibcode:2008NW.....95...67W. doi:10.1007/s00114-007-0291-6. PMID 17653527. S2CID 8161364.
- ^ a b c Florian Witzmann, Rainer R. Schoch (2017). "Skull and postcranium of the bystrowianid Bystrowiella schumanni from the Middle Triassic of Germany, and the position of chroniosuchians within Tetrapoda". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 16 (3): 711-739. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1336579.
- ^ Novikov A.V. (2018). Early Triassic amphibians of Eastern Europe: evolution of dominant groups and peculiarities of changing communities (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: RAS. p. 162. ISBN 978-5-906906-71-7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2024-04-06.
| |||||||||||||
