[Palaeontology,2014,pp.1–14]

SKULLMORPHOLOGYANDPHYLOGENETIC

RELATIONSHIPSOFANEWMIDDLETRIASSIC

PLAGIOSAURIDTEMNOSPONDYLFROMGERMANY,

ANDTHEEVOLUTIONOFPLAGIOSAURIDEYES

byRAINERR.SCHOCH1,ANDREWR.MILNER2andFLORIANWITZMANN3*

1StaatlichesMuseumfur€Naturkunde,Rosenstein1,D-70191,Stuttgart,Germany;e-mail:schoch.smns@naturkundemuseum-bw.de

2DepartmentofEarthSciences,TheNaturalHistoryMuseumLondon,London,UK;e-mail:ner@nhm.ac.uk

3€

MuseumfurNaturkunde,Invalidenstrasse43,D-10115,Berlin,Germany;e-mail:?orian.witzmann@mfn-berlin.de

*Correspondingauthor

Typescriptreceived25October2013;acceptedinrevisedform15January2014

Abstract:ApartialskullfromtheLowerKeuper(Middleonposteriorskulltable,withsingleprominenttuberclesris-

Triassic)ofGermanyisrecognizedasbelongingtoanewingfromridges.Phylogeneticanalysis?ndsplagiosauridsto

genusandspeciesofplagiosauridtemnospondyl.Itisreadilybemonophyleticwithinabroadrangeoftemnospondyls,

identi?edbythefollowingautapomorphies:(1)extremelynestingwithinacladeofshort-skulledstereospondyls.Plagio-

largeorbitsmediallyextendedtogiveverythininterorbitalsuchusisthemostbasalplagiosaurid,andPlagiosternum

regionandcheek;(2)posteriorskulltableabbreviated,withformsthesistergrouptothenewtaxon.Thebiologicalsig-

splint-likesupratemporals,postparietalsandparietals;(3)ni?canceofthelargeorbitsofplagiosauridsandtheirrela-

supraorbitallaterallinesulcusabsentonfrontal,withblindtionshipstotheeyeballsisdiscussed.Theonlytypeof

endingonparietal,andcontinuedattheanteriorma