Apateon

[charlie3425]

I have three specimens of Apateon fossils in my collection. They are all from the Niederhausen region in Germany. Two of them are supposed to be Apateon pedestris, the third (the litlle fat one) is a Branchiosaurus Petrolei. But, Petrolei is an obsolete name and identical to pedestris, am I correct? Thanx for any feedback.

 

 

 

[Fossildude19]

@oilshale

 

@jdp 

 

Potentially helpful paper?

[jdp]

yes B petrolicus is now thought to be the same s A. pedestris. Not sure if what you have is that though.

[charlie3425]

10 minutes ago, jdp said:

yes B petrolicus is now thought to be the same s A. pedestris. Not sure if what you have is that though.

Thank you. Not sure either. I guess it is extremely difficult to tell? Would more pictures help?

 

[jdp]

more pictures might help. but honestly a lot of branchiosaur taxonomy is, in my opinion, a little goofy and it might be difficult to really give you a solid ID.

[charlie3425]

1 hour ago, jdp said:

more pictures might help. but honestly a lot of branchiosaur taxonomy is, in my opinion, a little goofy and it might be difficult to really give you a solid ID.

Well, let's give it a try, this is the first and smallest one. It's apx 4,5 cm long. The shape of the head is quite triangular. Maybe I should try to make better pics in bright daylight tomorrow?

Edited December 1, 2021 by charlie3425

[charlie3425]

2 hours ago, jdp said:

more pictures might help. but honestly a lot of branchiosaur taxonomy is, in my opinion, a little goofy and it might be difficult to really give you a solid ID.

So this is the 'little fat one', also 4,5cm, but wider (about 12mm)...

[jdp]

Sot he second specimen is definitely Apateon and is also quite nice; you can see the gill arches, gill filaments, and other soft tissue structures such as the retinal pigments very nicely. The first specimen is more difficult to make out. The "triangular" head isn't something I'd use to diagnose it; that's a function of preservation and not the anatomy of the skull in life.

Unfortunately it is not as well-preserved so it is harder to tell what exactly that animal is, but my guess is they're both Apateon.

[charlie3425]

On 12/2/2021 at 5:48 PM, jdp said:

Sot he second specimen is definitely Apateon and is also quite nice; you can see the gill arches, gill filaments, and other soft tissue structures such as the retinal pigments very nicely. The first specimen is more difficult to make out. The "triangular" head isn't something I'd use to diagnose it; that's a function of preservation and not the anatomy of the skull in life.

Unfortunately it is not as well-preserved so it is harder to tell what exactly that animal is, but my guess is they're both Apateon.

Thank you very much. Really appreciate your effort and help. I haven't posted extra pictures of the third one, since a chunk in the centre of the head is missing. Making it even harder if not impossible to determine. Cheers, Jerry.