Loading…
Roots of the European Cenozoic ecosystems: lizards from the Paleocene (~MP 5) of Walbeck in Germany
We studied at least part of Kuhnʼs original material of lizards from the Paleocene (~MP 5) of the Walbeck locality in Germany. The collection was considered to be lost but is consistently discussed in the literature due to its importance. We restudied the type material of aff. Parasauromalus paleoce...
Saved in:
Published in: | Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. Fossil record 2024-03, Vol.27 (1), p.159-186 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | We studied at least part of Kuhnʼs original material of lizards from the Paleocene (~MP 5) of the Walbeck locality in Germany. The collection was considered to be lost but is consistently discussed in the literature due to its importance. We restudied the type material of aff.
Parasauromalus paleocenicus
and aff.
Glyptosaurus walbeckensis
described by Kuhn in 1940. The former was originally allocated to Iguania, the latter to Anguimorpha, though later on these identifications were questioned by several authors. We show such a classification of both cannot be upheld.
P. paleocenicus
resembles the morphology of lacertids showing their presence in Europe already around MP 5. We consider the name
P. paleocenicus
as a nomen dubium. The material of aff.
G. walbeckensis
was later suggested to belong to Lacertidae and also considered as a potential amphisbaenian. Although it differs from modern amphisbaenians, it shares features with one supposed polyodontobaenid –
Camptognathosaurus parisiensis
. The Walbeck form is identical to this species. Since the Walbeck taxon was described in 1940, the principle of priority makes
Camptognathosaurus parisiensis
a junior synonym of the species erected by Kuhn. We propose a new combined name for this form,
Camptognathosaurus walbeckensis
comb. nov. The specimen figured by Kuhn is currently lost, thus we designate a neotype from Walbeck. However, this taxon differs significantly from
Polyodontobaena
and new data doubt the attribution of
Camptognathosaurus
to Amphisbaenia. This taxon is tentatively assigned here to Lacertidae, as further confirmed by phylogenetic analyses. Material of Scincoidea is also described. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 2193-0066 2193-0074 |
DOI: | 10.3897/fr.27.e109123 |