Paramblypterus, SAUVAGE, 1888

Štamberg, Stanislav, 2018, Actinopterygians Of The Permian Locality Buxières-Les-Mines (Bourbon- L’Archambault Basin, France) And Their Relationship To Other Early Actinopterygians, Fossil Imprint 74 (3 - 4), pp. 245-291 : 286

Paramblypterus cf. duvernoy

Text-fig. 36

D e s c r i p t i o n. Operculo-gular series (BUX 22), parietal (BUX 45) and skull roof (BUX 86) of Paramblypterus sp. from Buxières-les-Mines were described and figured by Heyler (1984, 2000) and Heyler and Poplin (1990). A well preserved unit of the skull roof was found in the studied collection, and it complements our overview of the actinopterygians of Buxières-les-Mines.

Specimen D 11.11.95.9 exhibits a well preserved skull roof unit ( Text-fig. 36 ). The frontal is oblong in shape, has a strongly curved interfrontal suture, and a lateral process on the lateral side of the frontal that projects between the dermosphenotic and dermopterotic. The triangular dermosphenotic and oblong dermopterotic are arranged in one row. The dermopterotic borders the posterior half of the frontal and whole lateral margin of the parietal laterally, and it projects posterolaterally towards the process. The parietal shows three pit lines posterolaterally. The exposed surface of the bones bears ridges and tubercles which form conspicuous sculpture.

The above description of the skull roof bones together with the earlier descriptions by Heyler (1984, 2000) and Heyler and Poplin (1990) include the same characteristic features corresponding to Paramblypterus rohani from Surmoulin in France ( Heyler 1971), Paramblypterus duvernoy from the Saar Basin, Germany ( Dietze 1999, 2000) and Paramblypterus rohani from Krkonoše Piedmont Basin, the Czech Republic ( Štamberg 1976). The most recent research ( Dietze 2000, Štamberg 2013a, b) on P. duvernoy and P. rohani indicates there is a great similarity between these two species, and they could be considered one species. Based on priority, they should be considered Paramblypterus duvernoy ( AGASSIZ, 1833). I believe the present description plus the skull roof, operculo-gular series and parietal described by Heyler (1984, 2000) and Heyler and Poplin (1990) are also similar to Paramblypterus duvernoy ( AGASSIZ, 1833).

Figures

Text-fig. 36. Paramblypterus cf. duvernoy. a, b – photograph and drawing of the skull in dorsal view. D 11.11.95.9, whitened. Scale bar 5 mm. Abbreviations: Dsph – dermosphenotic; Dpt – dermopterotic; Fr – frontal; infs – interfrontal suture; Pa – parietal; pla – pit line anterior; plm – pit line medial; plp – pit line posterior; soc – supraorbital canal.