Pelodytes Bonaparte, 1850

Pelodytes Bonaparte, 1850 View in CoL

cf. Pelodytes sp.

Figure 2 View Fig

Material. Two presacral vertebrae ( UM-BFI 3166 and UM-BFI 3174).

Description. Both vertebrae are small and procoelous

( Fig. 2 View Fig ). Te centrum is narrow and elongated anteroposteriorly ( Fig. 2d, i View Fig ). Both anterior cotyle and posterior condyle are compressed dorsoventrally ( Fig. 2a, b, f, g View Fig ). Te prezygapophyses are elongated anteriorly and oriented dorsomedially ( Fig. 2a, c, f, h View Fig ). Te neural arch is thin and does not bear a neural spine, and its posterior margin is straight ( Fig. 2c, h View Fig ). Te transverse processes are thin, rod-like and oriented posterolaterally ( Fig. 2 View Fig ). In ventral view, the lateral walls of the neural canal extend laterally from the centrum ( Fig. 2d, i View Fig ).

Attribution and remarks. Both vertebrae are assigned to Pelodytidae based on the following characters (see Rage, 2016): (1) small, narrow procoelous centrum; (2) lateral walls of the neural canal extending laterally from the centrum in ventral view; (3) neural spine absent or weakly projecting posteriorly; and (4) vertebra lightly built. Pelodytidae is composed of a unique extant genus, Pelodytes Bonaparte, 1850 , and several North American and Asian extinct genera have been referred to this family. In the fossil record of Europe, pelodytid fossil elements are morphologically identical to bones of the modern Pelodytes (see Rage, 2016). Tus, we follow Rage (2016) and refer the La Bouffie material to cf. Pelodytes .