SilesianTriassic

Reptilia indet.

Middle Triassic, Gogolin Beds, Upper Silesia, Poland

Fragment of a medial abdominal rib (gastralium) of an indeterminate Middle Triassic reptile. The central process and a significant part of both lateral arms are preserved.

The total length of the preserved gastralium is 36 mm. The arms are ~14 mm and ~22 mm long. The distal ends are missing.

As with other specimens descrbed here the gastralia are generally non-diagnostic, and a more precise taxonomic identification of the specimen is not possible.

Interestingly, the arms appear slightly asymmetric in orientation and profile. The left arm tapers more rapidly and diverges from the central process at a somewhat different angle than the right arm. This asymetry may initially appear unusual but slight asymmetry is common in gastralia and is not considered exceptional.