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24 March 2023 A New Phytosaur Species (Archosauriformes) from the Upper Triassic of Jameson Land, Central East Greenland
Víctor López-Rojas, Lars B. Clemmensen, Jesper Milàn, Oliver Wings, Nicole Klein, Octávio Mateus
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Abstract

Herein we describe phytosaurs from thin fluvial overbank sandstones of the Upper Triassic Malmros Klint Formation of the Fleming Fjord Group (central East Greenland). The new sample includes more than 150 disarticulated bones and teeth from small to large specimens belonging to at least four individuals. The fossils mostly consist of teeth and postcranial elements and permit the recognition of a new species of Mystriosuchus, M. alleroq, diagnosed by an L-shaped quadratojugal whose anterior suture trends anterodorsally and a tripartite degree of heterodonty. Humeral diaphyseal histology of one specimen reveals a fairly compact cortex that surrounds a cancellous medullary region followed by a remodeling zone containing scattered secondary osteons. Primary bone tissue is parallel-fibred with a moderate to low vascular density. The cortex is cyclically interrupted by distinct growth marks indicating a seasonal environment. A change in growth rate from moderate to low is documented within the outer cortex, indicating that at least this individual was close to somatic maturity. Mystriosuchus has formerly been known as an exclusively European taxon. The new findings support the European faunal influence in East Greenland during the Late Triassic inferred from other taxa such as temnospondyls and archosaurs. The mid-late Norian age of European Mystriosuchus suggests an additional age constraint for the vertebrate-bearing portion of the Malmros Klint Formation.

Víctor López-Rojas, Lars B. Clemmensen, Jesper Milàn, Oliver Wings, Nicole Klein, and Octávio Mateus "A New Phytosaur Species (Archosauriformes) from the Upper Triassic of Jameson Land, Central East Greenland," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 42(3), (24 March 2023). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2023.2181086
Received: 9 February 2022; Accepted: 9 January 2023; Published: 24 March 2023
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