SVP abstracts – 9 on Milleretta and Milleropsis

Jenkins et al 2022 continue:
“Millerettidae is often found as one of the earliest branching clades of parareptiles, even sister to all other clades, despite first appearing in the Guadalupian. However, recent work has suggested a more derived position for millerettids within Parareptilia as sister to Procolophonomorpha.

Milleropsis is not a millerettid in the LRT. Add taxa to your own LRT to resolve this problem.

“We evaluate this using high-resolution synchrotron phase-contrast tomography, to document the crania of Milleretta rubidgei and the holotype of Milleropsis pricei.

This won’t help this phylogenetic problem. What you need is a wider view of more taxa,
not a microscopic view of two taxa.

Jenkins et al 2022 continue:
“These scans reveal anatomy of the premaxilla, braincase, and palate that appear remarkably derived relative to other early reptiles, such as Captorhinidae and Araeoscelidae, therefore consistent with a crownward position for Millerettidae (and potentially other parareptiles).

Clearly these 8 authors have no idea how reptiles are phylogenetically organized. Captorhinidae are not related to Araeoscelidiae in the LRT. Their last common ancestor was Silvanerpeton in the Viséan. Build your own LRT to confirm, refute or modify LRT results.

“Relevant traits include a posterolateral process of the ectopterygoid similar to that of ‘Younginiformes’, a peg-like anteroventral process of the prootic contacting the parabasisphenoid (previously only documented in neodiapsids), and a basal articulation formed solely by the pterygoid, a possible synapomorphy of Neoreptilia (traditional Parareptilia + Neodiapsida).

Jenkins et al 2022 continue:
“Though unstable, both of these positions are more congruent with the relatively late appearance of millerettids.

NO! Don’t follow tradition/ authority. Don’t believe textbooks. Follow the results and evidence of your own testing.

“A review of parareptile anatomy, including characters interpreted as synapomorphies, reveal homoplasy within early reptile-line amniotes, demonstrating the need for caution when analyzing early reptiles without a sufficient sampling of both derived and outgroup taxa.”