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Shastasaurid
Shastasauridae is an extinct family of ichthyosaurs from the Late Triassic with a possible Early Jurassic record. The family contains the largest known species of ichthyosaurs, which include some of and possibly the largest known marine reptiles. Taxonomy Shastasauridae was named by American paleontologist John Campbell Merriam in 1895 along with the newly described genus ''Shastasaurus''. In 1999, Ryosuke Motani erected the clade Shastasauria to include '' Shastasaurus'', ''Shonisaurus'', and several other traditional shastasaurids, defining it as a stem-based taxon including "all merriamosaurians more closely related to '' Shastasaurus pacificus'' than to ''Ichthyosaurus communis''." He also redefined Shastasauridae as a node-based taxon including "the last common ancestor of ''Shastasaurus pacificus'' and '' Besanosaurus leptorhynchus'', and all its descendants" and Shastasaurinae, which Merriam named in 1908, as a stem taxon including "the last common ancestor of ''Shastasau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Besanosaurus Leptorhynchus
''Besanosaurus'' (meaning ) is an extinct genus of Middle Triassic ichthyosaur from Monte San Giorgio of Italy and Switzerland, containing the single species ''B. leptorhynchus''. ''Besanosaurus'' was named by Cristiano Dal Sasso and Giovanni Pinna in 1996, based on the nearly complete flattened skeleton BES SC 999, the holotype specimen. This skeleton is preserved across multiple thin rock slabs spanning when assembled and took thousands of hours to prepare. Additional specimens from Monte San Giorgio that have previously been considered separate genera, including a partial skull named ''Mikadocephalus'' and a well-preserved, largely complete skeleton, have been reinterpreted as additional specimens of ''Besanosaurus''. Putative specimens of ''Besanosaurus'' have been discovered in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and Germany, although their attribution to this genus remains disputed. As an ichthyosaur, ''Besanosaurus'' had flippers for limbs and a fin on the tail. ''Besa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
