''Pervushovisaurus'' is a genus of platypterygiine

ichthyosaur Ichthyosaurs (Ancient Greek for "fish lizard" – and ) are large extinct marine reptiles. Ichthyosaurs belong to the order known as Ichthyosauria or Ichthyopterygia ('fish flippers' – a designation introduced by Sir Richard Owen in 1842, altho ...

from the Late Cretaceous (

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...

) of the

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

region in western Russia, the La Penthiève Beds of

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and the

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area of the UK.

History

It was originally described as a

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

of '' Platypterygius'', but later work showed that it was sufficiently distinct from the type species of ''Platypterygius'', ''P. platydactylus'', to be elevated to full generic rank. The type species of ''Pervushovisaurus'', ''P. bannovkensis'', is known only from the holotype, SSU 104a/24, a partial skull. In 2016, an additional species of ''Platypterygius'' from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

, ''P. campylodon'', was also referred to ''Pervushovisaurus'' after previously being allied with '' Ichthyosaurus'' in 1846. A previous Russian species of ''Platypterygius'', ''"P." kiprianoffi'', was also assigned to ''P. campylodon''. A specimen of ''P. campylodon'' was found in the La Penthiève Beds of

and was described in 1882 by

Henri Émile Sauvage Henri Émile Sauvage (22 September 1842 in Boulogne-sur-Mer – 3 January 1917 in Boulogne-sur-Mer) was a French paleontologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He was a leading expert on Mesozoic fish and reptiles.

Description

''Pervushovisaurus'' was a medium-sized ichthyosaur measuring long. Fishcer (2016) gave the emended diagnosis of ''Pervushovisaurus'' as follows, based on that of Fischer et al. (2014): "Platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid characterized by the following autapomorphies .. presence of foramina along the ventral premaxillary–maxillary suture; presence of a semi-oval foramen on the lateral surface of the premaxilla, anteroventral to the external naris; presence of lateral ridges on the maxilla; presence of wide supranarial ‘wing’ of the nasal (a similar structure, although much smaller, is present in ‘Platypterygius’ ''australis'' and '' Acamptonectes densus'') (see Kear, 2005; Fischer et al., 2012, respectively); robust splenial markedly protruding from the external surface of the mandible; root with quadrangular cross-section, with the cementum forming prominent 90° angles. ''Pervushovisaurus'' is also characterized by the following unique combination of features: secondarily closed naris surrounded by foramina (as in ‘Platypterygius’ ''sachicarum'' and ‘Platypterygius’ ''australis'' (see Paramo, 1997; Kear, 2005, respectively), and in '' Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi'', although the ‘anterior’ naris is still present in this taxon (Maisch & Matzke, 2000; Fischer et al., 2014a)); elongated anterior process of the maxilla, reaching anteriorly the level of the nasal (unlike in '' Aegirosaurus leptospondylus'', '' Sveltonectes insolitus'' and '' Muiscasaurus catheti'') (Bardet & Fernández, 2000; Fischer et al., 2011a; Maxwell et al., 2015, respectively); rostrum straight (unlike in ‘Platypterygius’ ''americanus'', ‘Platypterygius’ ''sachicarum'', ‘Platypterygius’ ''australis'' and possibly ''Muiscasaurus catheti'', where it is slightly curved anteroventrally Romer, 1968; Paramo, 1997; Kear, 2005; Maxwell et al., 2015, respectively); straight, non-recurved tooth crowns (unlike in ''Sveltonectes insolitus'', ''Muiscasaurus catheti'') (Fischer et al., 2011a; Maxwell et al., 2015, respectively)."

References

External links

* http://palaeos.com/vertebrates/ichthyosauria/ophthalmosauria.html ''Pervushovisaurus'' at Palaeos {{Taxonbar, from=Q15686557 Late Cretaceous ichthyosaurs Extinct animals of Russia Ichthyosauromorph genera