Gekkota indet.

Vasilyan, Davit, Cernansky, Andrej, Szyndlar, Zbigniew & Moers, Thomas, 2022, Amphibian and reptilian fauna from the early Miocene of Echzell, Germany, Fossil Record 25 (1), pp. 99-145 : 99

Gekkota indet.

Fig. 10

Material.

One right dentary HLMD-Ez 1958, one vertebra HLMD-Ez 1959.

Description.

Dentary: Only a fragment of the right mid-dentary region is preserved (Fig. 10A, B ). It bears 16 tooth positions that are densely spaced. Unfortunately, all teeth are broken off and missing, except for two preserved tooth bases. The dentary is slender (note, however, that the alveolar crest is high). In medial view, it gradually widens posteriorly and Meckel`s groove is fully closed. The ventral margin of the dentary is slightly concave. Besides three labial foramina, the external surface of the bone is smooth.

Vertebra: Only one isolated dorsal vertebra is preserved (Fig. 10C-G ). The vertebra is small, lightly built and anteroposteriorly elongated. It is amphicoelous with the centrum pierced by a notochordal canal. On the dorsal surface of the low neural arch, a straight dorsal and longitudinal, almost indistinct crest is present along the surface of the neural spine. The neural spine is weak, and it does not rise dorsally. However, the posterior region of this area is damaged, and the right postzygapophysis is broken off. On the anterior side, a deep and wedge-shaped notch is present (note, that it is unclear how much its contour is a result of potential breakage and/or normal state). Both pre- and postzygapohyses are almost anteriorly and posteriorly directed. The neural canal is large and heart-shaped because of the rounded centrum that is located ventrally. In lateral view, there is an elliptical synapophysis. In this view, the centrum has a concave ventral margin. In ventral view, the lateral margins of the centrum are concave as well. In the central region, a short ridge is developed between the anterior and posterior portions of the centrum. Laterally from the ridge, the surface is pierced by a pair of subcentral foramina.

Remarks.

In the European Miocene, the sphaerodactylid genus Euleptes is often present (see e.g., Daza et al. 2014; Čerňanský et al. 2018). Extinct genera of Gekkota are represented by Gerandogekko , which has been identified as closely related to Euleptes ( Daza et al. 2014) and Palaeogekko ( Schleich 1987). The material from Echzell is, however, too fragmentary for a generic assignment.

Figures

Figure 10. Gekkota indet. from the Echzell locality. right dentary HLMD-Ez 1958 in (A) lateral and (B) medial views. Vertebra HLMD-Ez 1959 in (C) anterior, (D) posterior, (E) lateral, (F) dorsal and (G) ventral views.