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Reconstruction of the skull and description of new anatomical features of Diadectes absitus (Diadectidae, Diadectomorpha) from the early Permian of central Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2022

Jozef KLEMBARA Open the ORCID record for Jozef KLEMBARA [Opens in a new window] ,
David S BERMAN ,
Amy C. HENRICI ,
Thomas MARTENS  and
Miroslav HAIN
Jozef KLEMBARA*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Ecology, Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Comenius University in Bratislava, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia. Institute of Measurement Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 841 04 Bratislava, Slovakia.
David S BERMAN
Affiliation:
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Amy C. HENRICI
Affiliation:
Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Thomas MARTENS
Affiliation:
Museum der Natur, Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha, Germany.
Miroslav HAIN
Affiliation:
Institute of Measurement Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 841 04 Bratislava, Slovakia.
*
*Corresponding author. Email: jozef.klembara@uniba.sk
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Abstract

Presented for the first time is a reconstruction of the skull of Diadectes (Diadectomorpha) based on several specimens of a single species Diadectes absitus from the early Permian of central Germany. Since its first discovery at the end of the 19th century the only reconstructions of the skull of Diadectes were without specific designation, despite a rich Permo-Carboniferous fossil record. The skull of D. absitus is reconstructed in dorsal, lateral, posterior, and ventral views and includes exocranial and endocranial elements. The reconstructions of Diadectes presented here are compared with those of all other authors, and the differences are analysed and discussed. The comparisons recognised three features not recorded in other species of Diadectes: (1) anterior and posterior margins of the transverse process of the pterygoid parallel one another; (2) the angle between the posterior margin of the transverse process and the lateral margin of the quadrate ramus of the pterygoid is sharply defined; and (3) the anterior ventral margin of the transverse process of the pterygoid bears a distinct sharp ridge. These characters are discussed in the context of the skull anatomy of Diadectes and inaccuracies in previous cranial reconstructions of the genus are rectified.

Keywords

central Europecranial skeletonearly tetrapodsmorphology
Type
Articles
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 113 , Issue 3 , September 2022 , pp. 267 - 278
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Royal Society of Edinburgh

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