A COMPLETE SPECIMEN OF MYSTRIOSUCHUS (REPTILIA, PHYTOSAURIA) FROM THE NORIAN (LATE TRIASSIC) OF LOMBARDY (NORTHERN ITALY)

Abstract

A complete and nearly articulated new phytosaur specimen is described in detail. The skeleton, about 4 metres long, has been collected from the uppermost level of the Calcare di Zorzino (Norian, Upper Triassic) in the small quarry of Endenna (Bergamo, Northern Italy). Available characters of the skull allow assignment of this long snouted, uncrested phytosaur to Mystriosuchus planirostris Von Meyer 1863. The postcranial anatomy, detailed here for the first time for this species, suggests a stronger adaptation to aquatic life in Mystriosuchus than in other phytosaurs, and may increase available data to improve our knowledge of the systematic relationships among phytosaurs. The discovery of this nearly complete skeleton in a marine intraplatform basin suggests that a short post-mortem transport of the carcass occurred and thus this phytosaur may have lived whether in a fresh water environment or in a shallow marine habitat, close to emerged lands.