Status of the pachypleurosauroid Psilotrachelosaurus toeplitschi Nopcsa (Reptilia, Sauropterygia), from the Middle Triassic of Austria
By: Olivier Rieppel --.
Series: Fieldiana -- new ser., no. 27; Publication -- 1448; Publication (Field Museum of Natural History) -- 1448.
Publisher: Field Museum of Natural History
Published: 1993
Place of publication: [Chicago, Ill.]
Subjects: Psilotrachelosaurus toeplitschi -- Classification.; Sauropterygia -- Classification.; Reptiles, Fossil -- Austria -- Classification.; Paleontology -- Triassic.
Genres: Classification.
Other titles: Psilotrachelosaurus toeplitschi Nopcsa
Description: The redescription of the holotype and only known specimen of Psilotrachelosaurus toeplitschi Nopcsa, 1928, from the northern Alps of Austria, and its comparison with other pachypleurosauroids show the specimen to represent a distinct genus and species. It is the sister-taxon of the Serpianosaurus-Neusticosaurus clade from the Middle Triassic of Central and Southern Europe (German Lettenkeuper as well as Grenzbitumenzone and Meridekalke of the southern Alps in southern Switzerland and Italy). Psilotrachelosaurus is represented by a subadult (sex y) or a small but already sexually mature (sex x) individual. Diagnostic features of the specimen include body proportions (relatively short humerus as compared to standard length), ossified distal carpal and tarsal 4, and a relatively broad pubis.