A revision of the genus Nothosaurus (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Germanic Triassic, with comments on the status of Conchiosaurus clavatus
By: Olivier Rieppel --, Rupert Wild --.
Contributors: Wild, R. Palaeontologische Abteilung, Staatliches Museum fuer Naturkunde, Stuttgart, Germany; Field Museum of Natural History.
Series: Fieldiana -- new ser., no. 34; Publication -- 1479; Publication (Field Museum of Natural History) -- 1479.
Publisher: Field Museum of Natural History
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Chicago, Ill
Subjects: Reptiles, Fossil -- Germany.; Paleontology -- Triassic.; Nothosaurus -- Classification.
Other titles: Revision of Nothosaurus; Fieldiana: Geology, new series, no. 34
Description: The systematic revision of the genus Nothosaurus from the Germanic Triassic (Muschelkalk, lower and middle Keuper) results in the recognition of five valid species. These are N. edingerae, N. giganteus, N. juvenilis, N. marchicus, and the genotypical species, N. mirabilis. The holotype of Conchiosaurus clavatus from the base of the middle Muschelkalk is unequivocal evidence of the synonymy of Conchiosaurus with Nothosaurus. Since Conchiosaurus has priority, it must be declared a nomen oblitum to preserve the genus name Nothosaurus. Intrageneric relationships of the species as reconstructed by cladistic analysis match the stratigraphic distribution of the species. The first occurrence of the genus is Nothosaurus cf. N. marchicus in the early lower Muschelkalk; the latest occurrence is Nothosaurus edingerae from the middle Keuper (Gipskeuper). Paranothosaurus is a junior synonym of Nothosaurus and supports faunal interchange between the Germanic and Alphine Triassic at the time of the Anisian-Ladinian boundary.