Triturus cf. marmoratus (Latreille, 1800)

Venczel, Márton & Stiuc, Emanoil, 2008, Late middle Miocene amphibians and squamate reptiles from Taut ,, Romania, Geodiversitas 30 (4), pp. 731-763 : 739-741

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.4665621

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D08790-FFCD-FFE2-5452-A5CEFD3C55AA

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Triturus cf. marmoratus
status

 

Triturus cf. marmoratus View in CoL ( Fig. 5 View FIG )

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — One oticooccipital ( ISER Tt-0360), one parietal ( ISER Tt-0361), eight presacral vertebrae ( ISER Tt-0362/1-8), one humerus ( ISER Tt-0363), one femur ( ISER Tt-0364).

DESCRIPTION

Oticooccipital

The only available specimen belonged to a largesized adult individual ( Fig. 5A View FIG , A’). In dorsal view, the crista muscularis is extremely prominent and runs sinuously from the posterodorsal margin of the prootic process to the anteromedial border of the otic capsule. This crest marks the medial limit of the squamosal attachment. The occipital condyle is prominent and of rounded shape with the medial and lateral margins bent posteriorly. The postotic foramen is dorsoventrally elongated and lies between the occipital condyle and fenestra ovalis. The latter structure is of roughly oval shape, delimited by a well-defined bony collar. In ventral view, the basal process is rather prominent and situated anteromedially to the fenestra ovalis. The palatal foramen is observed medially in the close vicinity of the basal process.

Parietal

The parietal is roughly rectangular with some damages on its anterior and posteromedial margin

( Fig. 5B View FIG ). The dorsal surface lacks any sculpture.

Venczel M. & Ştiucă E.

The anteromedial portion is elevated and delimited by a transversely running crest; the less elevated posterolateral section is slightly bent laterally. The nearly vertically positioned anterolateral wall is pierced by a small foramen.

Presacral vertebrae

The vertebrae belonged to relatively small to medium sized individuals.In lateral view the centrum is slightly bent ventrally;the centrum length in four largest vertebrae ranges between 2.89-3.08 mm (mean = 2.98). The neural arch is flattened and provided with a

relatively long neural spine of variable height. In its anterior section the neural spine arises progressively in ISERTt-0362/1 ( Fig.5D View FIG , D’), but more abruptly in few other specimens(e.g., ISERTt-0362/2-4).The dorsal margin of the neural spine is never thickened. The transverse processes in all the specimens are damaged, but their remnants suggest that they were closely spaced. The subcentral lamina is moderately wide, connected to the lower rib bearer and pierced by several foramina of moderate or small size.

Humerus

The head of the humerus is rounded and con-

nected to a well-developed ventral humeral crest ( Fig. 5C View FIG ). The dorsal humeral crest is reduced to a spur-like process which is slightly inclined dorsally. The humeral shaft is relatively slender but strongly widened near its distal extremity and provided with a deep ventral cubital fossa of elongated triangular shape. The entepicondyle is slightly larger than the ectepicondyle.

Femur

Specimen ISER Tt-0364 represents a proximal femoral shaft. The head of the femur is only slightly curved dorsally, while the trochanter is rather short and acute-angled; part of the well-defined crista trochanterica is preserved on the anteroventral margin of the femur.

REMARKS

The above described specimens are comparable morphologically to Recent T. marmoratus (Latreille, 1800) , even if the sizes of the presacral vertebrae are much smaller than those coming from adult T. marmoratus individuals (Haller-Probst & Schleich 1994). The neural spine of the presacral vertebrae is distinctly higher than in the members of the T. cristatus group (i.e. T. cristatus (Laurenti, 1768) , T. dobrogicus (Kiritzescu, 1903) and T. karelinii (Strauch, 1870)) .

Order ANURA Fischer von Waldheim, 1813

ISER

Institutul Speologie Emil G. Racovita

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Amphibia

Order

Caudata

Family

Salamandridae

Genus

Triturus

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