New description and diagnosis of Hyneria lindae (Sarcopterygii, Tristichopteridae) from the Upper Devonian Catskill Formation in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Thomson (1968, Postilla 124:1–13) described and diagnosed the tristichopterid Hyneria lindae from parts of a disarticulated skull and isolated scales recovered from the Upper Devonian (Famennian) Catskill Formation of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Since the publication of that description, knowledge of the tristichopterid clade has grown significantly, with numerous new descriptions of Famennian taxa from around the world. Additionally, a concerted effort to collect vertebrates from the Catskill Formation in Pennsylvania has produced significant new material of Hyneria lindae from the type locality at Red Hill, Clinton County, Pennsylvania. The new material serves as the basis for a rediagnosis and redescription of Hyneria lindae. The species is uniquely diagnosed by features including scales with a fringed free margin, a wide and blunt snout, and short intertemporals. The redescription of H. lindae gives occasion to review all of the Catskill Formation tristichopterid material that requires further diagnosis. This includes a near-complete cranial specimen collected near Red Hill that was originally diagnosed as Eusthenodon wängsjöi by Thomson (1976; Journal of Paleontology 50:1203–1208) and is here revised as Hyneria cf. lindae and figured for the first time. The emerging sample of tristichopterids from the Catskill Formation informs the diversity and paleobiogeography of these large predators in the fluvial ecosystems of the Red Hill site and within the Catskill Delta complex. Citation for this article: Daeschler, E. B., and J. P. Downs. 2018. New description and diagnosis of Hyneria lindae (Sarcopterygii, Tristichopteridae) from the Upper Devonian Catskill Formation in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2018.1448834.