A "Leptosaurus" (Rhynchocephalia) from the Kimmeridgian of Schamhaupten, Bavaria

来自巴伐利亚州 Schamhaupten 启默里阶的“细龙”（Rhynchocephalia）

• 批准号: 250330695
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Oliver Rauhut, Ph.D.
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Sektion Paläontologie und Geobiologie
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2012-12-31 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/250330695?language=en
• 关键词: Leptosaurus; Rhynchocephalia; Kimmeridgian; Schamhaupten; Bavaria

The Rhynchocephalia are an ancient group belonging to the Lepidosauria, and are currently represented with a single genus. However, the clade was taxonomically and ecologically diverse during the Mesozoic. Understanding the evolution of Mesozoic rhynchocephalians is thus of greatest importance for our interpretation of the recent Tuatara and of the implications of this group for our understanding of the other group of lepidosaurs, the squamates. One of the most important fossil lagerstätten for Mesozoic rhynchocephalians are the Late Jurassic limestones of southern Germany: Not only is this group represented by several taxa in these deposits, but these taxa are known from complete skeletons, whereas many Mesozoic rhynchocephalians are known only from isolated remains, often jaws. Unfortunately, however, the taxonomy of the rhynchocepalians from these limestones is still problematic, and recent finds have usually been referred to one of the known taxa simply on the basis of general similarity. Thus, the only known rhynchocephalian from the Kimmeridgian locality of Schamhaupten has been referred to Leptosaurus pulchellus, although it shows several differences to this taxon, which might indicate that it represents a new species. In the framework of this project, we will therefore study and describe this specimen in detail and establish its taxonomic identity. The results will not only be of interest for our understanding of the faunal composition of Schamhaupten and the diversity of rhynchocephalians in the Late Jurassic limestones of southern Germany, but will also provide new information on the separation or possible synonymy of the genera Kallimodon and Leptosaurus and the species included in these genera.

喙头目是属于鳞龙目的一个古老类群，目前仅由一个属代表。然而，该分支在中生代在分类学和生态学上是多样化的。因此，了解中生代喙头类的进化对于我们解释最近的大蜥蜴以及该类群对我们理解另一类鳞龙类（有鳞类）的影响至关重要。中生代喙头动物最重要的化石收藏之一是德国南部的晚侏罗世石灰岩：该类群不仅以这些沉积物中的几个类群为代表，而且这些类群是从完整的骨骼中得知的，而许多中生代喙头类动物仅从孤立的遗骸（通常是下颌）中得知。然而不幸的是，对这些石灰岩中的喙头动物进行分类仍然存在问题，最近的发现通常只是基于一般相似性而被称为已知分类群之一。因此，来自 Schamhaupten 启默里阶地区唯一已知的喙头类动物被称为细龙，尽管它与该分类单元有一些差异，这可能表明它代表了一个新物种。因此，在该项目的框架内，我们将详细研究和描述该标本，并建立其分类学身份。这些结果不仅有利于我们了解德国南部晚侏罗世石灰岩中的 Schamhaupten 动物群组成和喙头类动物的多样性，而且还将提供有关卡利莫顿属和细龙属以及这些属中包含的物种的分离或可能同名的新信息。