A Lizard-Like Reptile with Unusual Mandibular Neurovasculature from the Upper Triassic of Virginia Project ID: 000592367 Public

2 Media · 1 Specimen · Creator: Ben T. Kligman · Managed by: Ben Kligman

Here, we report a new small-bodied reptile taxon, Idiosaura virginiensis gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) Vinita Formation of the Richmond basin (Newark Supergroup) in east-central Virginia, U.S.A. The material consists of a fragmentary dentary bearing numerous tall cylindrical teeth implanted in a pleurodont fashion into spongy alveolar tissue. Micro-CT scan data reveals an unusual and complex network of interconnected neurovascular canals within the dentary with connections to the alveolar tissue and pulp cavities of the teeth. The external anatomy of the dentary is consistent with that of Triassic kuehneosaurid reptiles, suggesting affinities to that group; the results of a phylogenetic analysis were inconclusive but do not exclude kuehneosaurid relationships. The new taxon adds to the relatively diverse assemblage of small-bodied tetrapods known from the Tomahawk microvertebrate bonebed (USNM locality 39981), and suggests that the rise of lepidosauromorph ecomorphorphologies specializing for feeding on invertebrates occurred in Triassic communities alongside non-lepidosauromorph taxa with similar mandibulo-dental features, as in kuehneosaurs.