Pelvic girdle morphology in Stagonolepis, with remarks on aetosaur systematics

In recent years, the Upper Triassic deposits at Krasiejów (south-west Poland) have yielded several tetrapod taxa, both aquatic and terrestrial. Stagonolepis olenkae is one of the terrestrial vertebrates recovered there; a quadrupedal, armoured aetosaur, which belonged to the crocodile-line archosaurs with a characteristic shovel-shaped snout. Several previous studies (osteological, histological and taphonomic) have attempted to understand the mode of life, growth pattern and possible dimorphism of this species and on this basis, to interpret palaeoecological, palaeoclimatic and stratigraphical implications. So far, the pelvic girdle of S. olenkae from Krasiejów remained undescribed. Here, t…