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Nichollssaura Borealis
''Nichollssaura'' is an extinct genus of leptocleidid plesiosaur from the Early Cretaceous Boreal Sea of North America. The type species is ''N. borealis'', found in the early Albian age Clearwater Formation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Taxonomy The fossil, named after paleontological curator Dr. Betsy Nicholls, originally was named ''Nichollsia borealis'' but ''Nichollsia'' was already in use (preoccupied) by a genus of isopods. Thus, the original authors proposed ''Nichollssaura'' as a replacement generic name in 2009. Description ''Nichollssaura'' was a small plesiosaur, estimated up to in length and in body mass based on a complete specimen (TMP 1994.122.1). It fills an approximate 40-million-year gap in the fossil record of North American plesiosaurs. The type specimen was discovered in one of Syncrude Canada Ltd.'s open-pit oilsand mines near Fort McMurray, Alberta, in 1994, in the Wabiskaw member of the Clearwater Formation. The fossil is on display ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 Megaannum#SI prefix multipliers, Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Proposals for the exact age of the Barremian–Aptian boundary ranged from 126 to 117 Ma until recently (as of 2019), but based on drillholes in Svalbard the defining Anoxic event#Cretaceous, early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE1a) was dated to 123.1±0.3 Ma, limiting the possible range for the boundary to c. 122–121 Ma. There is a possible link between this anoxic event and a series of Early Cretaceous large igneous provinces (LIP). The Ontong Java Plateau, Ontong Java-Manihiki Plateau, Manihiki-Hikurangi Plateau, Hikurangi large igneous province, emplaced in the South Pacific at c. 120 Ma, is by far the largest LIP in Earth's history. The Onto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, second-largest country by total area, with the List of countries by length of coastline, world's longest coastline. Its Canada–United States border, border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both Temperature in Canada, meteorologic and Geography of Canada, geological regions. With Population of Canada, a population of over 41million people, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in List of the largest population centres in Canada, urban areas and large areas of the country being sparsely populated. Canada's capital is Ottawa and List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wapuskanectes
''Wapuskanectes'' is an extinct genus of early elasmosaurid known from Alberta, Canada, in the Albian aged Wabiskaw Member, Wabiskaw member of the Clearwater Formation. ''Wapuskanectes'' is the oldest North American elasmosaurid to date, at around 112 million years old. Etymology The name of a biological genus, generic name is derived from ''Wapuska'', Cree language for "a body of water with whitecaps on it" and also it is the etymology of the Wabiskaw Member, in which the holotype was found, and ''nectes'', Greek language, Greek for "swimmer". The specific name (zoology), specific name honors the late Elizabeth Nicholls, Dr. Elizabeth "Betsy" Nicholls, curator of marine reptiles at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, for enduring influence on research in Mesozoic marine vertebrates. Discovery ''Wapuskanectes'' was named by Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Anthony P. Russell in 2006 in paleontology, 2006. The type species and only species is ''Wapuskanectes betsynichollsa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
