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Topographic Morphology of the Postcranial Osteoderm Cover of an Adult Scutosaurus tuberculatus (Amalitzky) (Pareiasaurina) from the Late Permian of Eastern Europe

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Abstract

We present the first detailed study of the topographic morphology of the osteoderm cover of an adult Scutosaurus tuberculatus (Amalitzky, 1922) (Pareiasaurina) from the upper Permian Sokolki locality (Arkhangelsk Region, Russia). We describe the structure of the osteoderms and clarify their topographic relationship to the spinous and articular processes of the vertebrae and to the ribs. Osteoderms formed seven longitudinal rows along the scutosaur body: an unpaired median spinous row and the paired lateral spinous, zygapophyseal, and costal rows. The spinous rows begin in the cervical and terminate in the caudal body region. The zygapophyseal rows extend from the cervical to the sacral region. The costal rows are only present along the dorsum. The morphology of osteoderms varies according to their topographic position. Postcranial osteoderms did not form a continuous carapace, and most of them were not in contact. Only in the cervical region, some osteoderms could come in contact and even form sutures.

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Notes

  1. St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Manuscript group 316, Inventory 1, File 50.

  2. St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Manuscript group 316, Inventory 1, File 50.

  3. St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Manuscript group 316, Inventory 1, File 93.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors express their sincere gratitude to A.N. Kuznetsov, P.P. Skutschas, G.O. Cherepanov, D.I. Pashchenko, I. Kogan and M. Van den Brandt for invaluable advice; A.E. Nelikhov for help in work with archival documents of V.P. Amalitzky; V.V. Bulanov for help in preparing the photographs; and Yu.K. Shkolnik for help in preparing the drawings.

Funding

This paper was supported by the Kazan Federal University Strategic Academic Leadership Program (PRIORITY-2030).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117647, Moscow, Russia

    E. I. Boyarinova & V. K. Golubev

  2. Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, 420008, Kazan, Russia

    E. I. Boyarinova

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  1. E. I. Boyarinova
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Translated by M. Batrukova

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Boyarinova, E.I., Golubev, V.K. Topographic Morphology of the Postcranial Osteoderm Cover of an Adult Scutosaurus tuberculatus (Amalitzky) (Pareiasaurina) from the Late Permian of Eastern Europe. Paleontol. J. 56, 1437–1458 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S003103012211003X

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