How to translate text using browser tools
1 May 2012 Macrosemimimus, gen. nov. (Actinopterygii, Semionotiformes), from the Late Jurassic of Germany, England, and France
Kerstin M. Schröder, Adriana López-Arbarello, Martin Ebert
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

We describe a new semionotiform genus, which was recognized while studying Macrosemimimus fegerti, gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Archipelago, Germany. Macrosemimimus (Lepidotes) lennieri from the early Kimmeridgian of Cap de la Hève, France, including Lepidotes toombsi from the Lower Kimmeridge Clay in Cambridgeshire, England, as a junior synonym, also belong to the new genus. Though different species, the presence of the same fish genus in different biodiversity zones suggests that semionotiforms might have been less sensible to the ecological and physical factors that caused the endemisms recognized in the invertebrate faunas. Macrosemimimus is mainly distinguished by the peculiar shape of the antorbital portion of the frontal bones, a single pair of extrascapular bones that do not reach the dorsal midline, anteriorly open circumborbital ring, only two suborbital bones, edentulous maxilla, a large quadratojugal involved in the jaw articulation, four postcleithra, and the pectoral fins placed very low and joining ventrally. The two included species differ in the ornamentation of the skull bones, the morphology of the scales, the relative size and position of the extrascapular bones, the dorsal extension of the preoperculum, and the kind of dentition. Although the phylogenetic relationships of Macrosemimimus are not yet established, the particular shape of the antorbital portion of the frontals and the patterns of the extrascapular and suborbital bones indicate possible systematic affinity with the macrosemiids, “Lepidotesgloriae from the Oxfordian of Cuba, and “Lepidotesmicrorhis and “Lepidotestanyrhis from the Barremian of Las Hoyas, Spain.

© 2012 by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Kerstin M. Schröder, Adriana López-Arbarello, and Martin Ebert "Macrosemimimus, gen. nov. (Actinopterygii, Semionotiformes), from the Late Jurassic of Germany, England, and France," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(3), 512-529, (1 May 2012). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2012.649626
Received: 15 July 2011; Accepted: 8 December 2011; Published: 1 May 2012
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top