Poekilopleuron

Poekilopleuron Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, 167.7–166.1 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Cast of the holotype gastralia, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Megalosauridae
Subfamily:	†Afrovenatorinae
Genus:	†Poekilopleuron Eudes-Deslongchamps, 1836
Type species
Poekilopleuron bucklandii Eudes-Deslongchamps, 1836
Synonyms[1]
Genus synonyms Poecilopleuron Bronn, 1837 (nomen nudum) Poikilopleuron Owen, 1842 Poecilopleurum Bronn, 1849 Poicilopleuron Joseph Leidy, 1870 Species synonyms Poikilopleuron bucklandi Owen, 1842 Poecilopleurum bucklandi Bronn, 1849 Poicilopleuron bucklandi Leidy, 1870 Megalosaurus bucklandi Hulke, 1879 Megalosaurus poikilopleuron Huene, 1926 Poekilopleuron bucklandi White, 1973 Poecilopleuron bucklandi Welles & Long, 1974

Poekilopleuron (meaning "varied ribs") is a megalosauroid dinosaur. The genus has been used under many different spelling variants, although only one, Poekilopleuron, is valid. The type species is P. bucklandii (see also Megalosaurus), named after William Buckland, and many junior synonyms of it have also been erected. Few material is currently known, as the holotype was destroyed in World War II, although many casts of the material still exist.

Discovery and naming

Poekilopleuron is a genus of theropod with a long and complex history. The genus was first named and described by Jacques-Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps in a report published in 1836,^[2][3] based on holotype material that is now destroyed. In 1837, Eudes-Deslongchamps published a more detailed account of this discovery in a monograph^[4] which was also inserted next year in volume 6 of the "Mémoires de la Société Linnéenne Normandie".^[5]

The holotype, which was housed in Musée de la Faculté des Sciences de Caen and destroyed during World War II, included gastralia, phalanges, a left forelimb, caudal vertebrae, chevrons, ribs and a hindlimb. Of all the material, few is still preserved, although the gastralia, phalanges and forelimb were casted.^[1][6]

In the same 1836 publication, Eudes-Deslongchamps also named the type species of Poekilopleuron, P. bucklandii.^[7][8] Eudes-Deslongchapms noted similarities with some material of Megalosaurus bucklandii and Poekilopleuron, and chose the species name bucklandii for Poekilopleuron, so that it the two genera were synonymized, only the genus name would be suppressed.^[1] The generic name is derived from Greek ποίκιλος, poikilos, "varied", and πλευρών, pleuron, "rib", a reference to the three types of rib present. The specific name, honouring William Buckland, was deliberately identical to that of Megalosaurus bucklandii.^[source?]

References

1. Allain R.; Chure D. J. (2002). "Poekilopleuron bucklandii, the theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) of Normandy" (PDF). Palaeontology. 45 (6): 1107–1121. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00277. S2CID 129641987.
2. Eudes-Deslongchamps J.-A. (1836). "Plusieurs parties d'un mémoire sur un très-grand animal fossile découvert, l'an dernier, dans les carrières de la Maladrerie à un quart de lieu de Caen". Analyse des travaux de la Société pendant l’année académique 1835–1836, Séance Publique de la Société Linnéenne de Normandie tenue à Vire le 24 mai 1836: 14–25.
3. Brignon A. (2018). "New historical data on the first dinosaurs found in France". BSGF - Earth Sciences Bulletin. 189 (4). doi:10.1051/bsgf/2018003.
4. Eudes-Deslongchamps J.-A. (1837) Mémoire sur le Poekilopleuron bucklandii, grand saurien fossile, intermédiaire entre les crocodiles et les lézards. A. Hardel, Caen, 114 p., 8 pl.
5. Eudes-Deslongchamps J.-A. (1838). "Mémoire sur le Poekilopleuron bucklandii, grande saurien fossile, intermédiaire entre les crocodiles et les lézards, découvert dans les carrières de la Maladrerie, près Caen, au mois de juillet 1835". Mémoires de la Société Linnéenne Normandie. 6: 37–146, 8 pl.
6. Holtz, T.R. Jr (2012). "Updated genus list for Holtz (2007) Dinosaurs" (PDF). University of Maryland. p. 8.
7. Eudes-Deslongchamps J.-A. (1836). "Plusieurs parties d'un mémoire sur un très-grand animal fossile découvert, l'an dernier, dans les carrières de la Maladrerie à un quart de lieu de Caen". Analyse des travaux de la Société pendant l’année académique 1835–1836, Séance Publique de la Société Linnéenne de Normandie tenue à Vire le 24 mai 1836: 14–25.
8. Brignon A. (2018). "New historical data on the first dinosaurs found in France". BSGF - Earth Sciences Bulletin. 189 (4). doi:10.1051/bsgf/2018003.