Basic info Taxonomic history Classification Included Taxa
Morphology Ecology and taphonomy External Literature Search Age range and collections

Meiolania platyceps

Reptilia - Meiolaniidae

Taxonomy
Meiolania platyceps was named by Owen (1886). Its type specimen is BMNH R675, a partial skull, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Lord Howe Island (Meiolania Old Collection), which is in a Pleistocene terrestrial horizon in Australia.

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1886Miolania platyceps Owen pp. 160-161 figs. plate 30, fig. 1
1886Meiolania minor Owen p. 316
1886Meiolania platyceps Owen p. 316 figs. plate 30, fig. 1
1887Ceratochelys sthenurus Huxley p. 236237
1889Miolania platyceps Lydekker pp. 160-166
2008Meiolania platyceps Danilov and Parham
2011Meiolania platyceps Pérez-García and Ortega
2013Meiolania platyceps Pérez-García and Murelaga
2015Meiolania platyceps Rhodin et al.
2015Meiolania platyceps Sterli p. 37

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
RankNameAuthor
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
—Testudinata(Oppel 1811)
—Perichelydia
—Meiolaniformes
familyMeiolaniidaeLydekker 1887
genusMeiolania
speciesplatyceps

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

†Meiolania platyceps Owen 1886
show all | hide all
Invalid names: Ceratochelys sthenurus Huxley 1887 [objective synonym], Meiolania minor Owen 1886 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
J. Sterli 2015Meiolania platyceps shares with other members of the clade Meiolania the presence of recurved B horns and the absence of a continuous shelf formed by scutes A, B and C. Meiolania platyceps is differentiated from Me. brevicollis and Me. mackayi by the presence of a relatively wider horn core B, the presence of a parasagittal ridge on the premaxillary triturating surface and the absence of ventral keels in cervical vertebrae 5 and 6. Meiolania platyceps is differentiated from Me. brevicollis by the higher angle of the posterior projection of the horn core B, the larger horn core A, the relatively longer, lower and wider cervical vertebrae and the relatively low and flat neural spine of the axis. Meiolania platyceps is differentiated from Me. mackayi by the presence of relatively more robust limb bones. Meiolania platyceps is about 30% larger than Me. mackayi and about 10% to 20% smaller than Me. brevicollis.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrials
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Diet: herbivores
Comments: The palate of Me. platyceps is decorated by several rows of serrated ridges, which is indicative of herbivorous dietary preferences by analogy to numerous extant testudinoids (Ernst and Barbour 1989; Joyce and Bell 2004).s
Created: 2017-04-29 07:53:55
Modified: 2017-04-29 07:53:55
Source: s = species, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Sterli 2015, Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009

Age range: base of the Middle Pleistocene to the top of the Late/Upper Pleistocene or 0.77400 to 0.01170 Ma

Collections (7 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Australia (New South Wales) Meiolania platyceps (185435 185436 185437 185438 185439) Meiolania platyceps, Meiolania minor, Ceratochelys sthenurus (type locality: 185430)
Middle Pleistocene - Late/Upper Pleistocene0.774 - 0.0117Australia (Queensland) Meiolania platyceps (183080)