Pseudopus pannonicus

description

Description. Maxilla. Most maxillae available in the material are incomplete except for the right maxilla ZIN PH 1 / 282 (Figs 2 - 3). This specimen is fairly complete and very large with a length of 36.93 mm and a height of 11.05 mm, thus making it the largest Pseudopus, or anguine even, maxilla ever found. To our knowledge, this is the largest maxilla found among anguids as a whole; see Fig. 2). In any case, all maxillae are robust and relatively large. The exception is GIN 1144 / 231 which is small and fragile. The maxilla is anteroposteriorly long and relatively robust with a slight medial curvature at its anterior end. It consists of two major portions: the dental portion bearing the marginal dentition and the dorsally extending nasal process. The nasal process is roughly trapezoidal in shape. It is tall, forming an almost perpendicular wall, although it curves slightly medially at its dorsal extremity. The anterolateral wall of the lacrimal bone was abutting the nasal process of the maxilla where it begins to rise dorsally (i. e., at the level of the lacrimal recess). The anterodorsal margin of this process joins the nasal, whereas its posterodorsal portion broadly overlaps t

The easternmost record of the largest anguine lizard that has ever lived - Pseudopus pannonicus (Squamata, Anguidae): new fossils from the late Neogene of Eastern Europe

materials_examined

Locality, horizon and material. 1. Petroverovka, early-middle Turolian (MN 11 - MN 12): one trunk vertebra (ZIN PH 7 / 281); four caudal vertebrae (ZIN PH 8 / 281, 9 / 281, 10 / 281, 11 / 281); and 49 osteoderms (ZIN PH 1 - 6 / 281; 12 - 54 / 281). 2. Kalfa, Middle Sarmatian age (= Vallesian; MN 10 a): five dentaries (ZIN PH 1 / 277; 2 / 277; 3 / 277; 4 / 277; 5 / 277); three maxillae (ZIN PH 6 / 277; 7 / 277; 8 / 277); two parietals (ZIN PH 17 / 277, 18 / 277); and 57 osteoderms (ZIN PH 9 - 15 / 277; 19 - 68 / 277). 3. Lucheshty, late Ruscinian (MN 15): one frontal (ZIN PH 2 / 278); one parietal (ZIN PH 6 / 278); one fragment of the braincase (ZIN PH 1 / 278); one presacral vertebra (ZIN PH 7 / 278); and four osteoderms (ZIN PH 3 - 5 / 278; 8 / 278). 4. Etulia (Ovrag Nadezhda, Tretiy Ovrag, Strausovyj Ovrag local points), late Ruscinian (MN 15): five parietals (ZIN PH 2 / 279, 3 / 279, 4 / 279, 5 / 279, 6 / 279), one dentary (ZIN PH 1 / 279), one presacral vertebra (ZIN PH 7 / 279), and 11 osteoderms (ZIN PH 8 - 18 / 279). 5. Khadzhi-Abdul, late Ruscinian (MN 15): one maxilla (ZIN PH 1 / 282), two frontals (ZIN PH 2 / 282, 3 / 282), two parietals (ZIN PH 4 / 282, 5 / 282). 6. Tata

The easternmost record of the largest anguine lizard that has ever lived - Pseudopus pannonicus (Squamata, Anguidae): new fossils from the late Neogene of Eastern Europe