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Reappraisal of the early Permian dissorophid Alegeinosaurus from Texas, USA

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Abstract

Alegeinosaurus aphthitos is a poorly known dissorophid from the early Permian Arroyo Formation of Texas that is represented by a partial articulated block of postcrania, including an articulated pectoral girdle, portions of the ribcage, and articulated vertebrae with osteoderms. It is one of several dissorophid taxa whose placement within the family is unquestioned, but whose anatomy and taxonomy are too poorly resolved to be relevant for current comparative and phylogenetic studies. A redescription of the holotype is presented here to provide a more thorough characterization of its morphology and to address its taxonomic standing. Various aspects of the postcrania conform to those previously reported from the basal dissorophid Aspidosaurus, in particular the unique nature of a single series of keeled osteoderms fused to transversely expanded dorsal tips of the spines. Alegeinosaurus is herein designated as a junior synonym of Aspidosaurus, thereby resolving the relationships of a poorly known taxon and expanding the characterized postcranial regions of Aspidosaurus for future comparative work on dissorophid postcrania.

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Acknowledgements

I thank C. Mehling and M. Norell for facilitating a collection visit to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Thanks to the reviewers, F. Witzmann and P. Skutschas, and to the Associate Editor, N. Fröbisch, for insightful comments that improved this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississsauga Road, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada

    Bryan M. Gee

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  1. Bryan M. Gee
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Correspondence to Bryan M. Gee.

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Handling Editor: Nadia Fröbisch.

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Gee, B.M. Reappraisal of the early Permian dissorophid Alegeinosaurus from Texas, USA. PalZ 92, 661–669 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-018-0421-9

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