Pistosaurus longaevus Meyer, 1839

Sues, Hans-Dieter & Schoch, Rainer R., 2025, Synopsis of the Triassic reptiles from Germany, Fossil Record 28 (2), pp. 411-483 : 411-483

Pistosaurus longaevus Meyer, 1839

Holotype.

UMO BT 000015.00 , cranium lacking anterior end of snout (Fig. 9 A ).

Type locality.

Laineck (also known as Lainecker Berg or Lainecker Höhenzug) east of Bayreuth, Bavaria.

Type horizon.

Ceratites flexuosus through C. compressus zones , upper part of Trochitenkalk Formation and lower part of Meissner Formation, Upper Muschelkalk Subgroup. Geyer and Friedlein (2020) considered the Muschelkalk deposits exposed in the region of the Lainecker Höhenzug a distinct unit of marginal marine strata, which they refer to as Eschenbach Formation. The subformation that has yielded the holotype is named Eschenbach Formation 5. Age: Middle Triassic (Anisian: Illyrian).

Referred material.

Geissler (1895) described an incomplete but originally largely articulated postcranial skeleton ( SMF R 4041) and gave it the “ preliminary ” name Nothosaurus strunzi . F. Huene (1948) and E. Huene (1949) first assigned this specimen to Pistosaurus longaevus and Sues (1987) and Diedrich (2013) redescribed it in detail. A second, more complete cranium described and illustrated by Meyer (1847–1855) can no longer be located. Diedrich (2013) assigned additional isolated postcranial bones from other localities in the Upper Muschelkalk Subgroup to Pistosaurus longaevus .

Diagnosis.

Distinguished by the following combination of cranial features: maxillary tooth row not extending beyond posterior orbital margin; nasal splint-like; frontal participating in anterior margin of supratemporal fossa and in postorbital bar; frontals and parietals fused posteriorly; postorbital extending far posteriorly in supratemporal bar; and epipterygoid narrow dorsally ( Rieppel 2000).

Comments.

In addition to P. longaevus Meyer, 1839 , Meyer (1847–1855) used the species name P. grandaevus in his monograph. The latter name is cited in both the summary and the figure legend for pl. 21, figs 1–3, which illustrate the now lost second cranium of Pistosaurus . The description of this specimen, however, is provided in the section on Pistosaurus longaevus (p. 23). In his summary, Meyer wrote: “ Ein anderes Macrotrachelen-Genus hatten wir im Pistosaurus erkannt, von dem nur eine Species, P. grandaevus, der Muschelkalk von Bayreuth geliefert hat … ” (p. 162). Obviously, he used the two species names interchangeably, but P. longaevus has clear page priority.

References.

Meyer (1839, 1847–1855), Geissler (1895), Edinger (1935 a), F. Huene (1948), E. Huene (1949), Sues (1987), Rieppel (1994, 1999, 2000), Diedrich (2013).

Figures

Figure 9. Reptiles from the Muschelkalk Group. A. Pistosaurid eosauropterygian Pistosaurus longaevus (UMO BT 000015.00), incomplete cranium in oblique lateral view. Scale bar: 2 cm. Photograph courtesy of S. Evers (UMO BT). B. Mixosaurid ichthyosaurian Phalarodon atavus (MB. R. 2353), incomplete cranium in lateral view. Scale bar: 2 cm. Courtesy of N. Fröbisch. C, D. Blezingeria ichthyospondyla (SMNS 81198), dorsal vertebra in (C) anterior and (D) posterior view. Scale bar: 2 cm.