Shastasauridae

From Palaeos

(Redirected from Shastasaur)
Jump to: navigation, search
Parent taxa:
(check the following menu and phylogeny - the taxon in bold refers to the topic on this page)


ICHTHYOSAURIA
Taxonomy Phylogeny 
o Ichthyopterygia
`--o ICHTHYOSAURIA
   |--Cymbospondylus
   `--+--Mixosaurus 
      `--o--Guanlingsaurus
         `--o Merriamosauria
            |--Shastasauridae
            `--o Euichthyosauria 
               |--Teretocnemidae
               `--+--Californosaurus
                  `--o Parvipelvia 
                     }--Macgovania
                     `--+--Hudsonelpidia
                        `--+--Suevoleviathan
                           `--+--Temnodontosaurus
                              |--Leptonectidae
                              `--o Thunnosauria 
                                 |--Stenopterygius
                                 |--Ichthyosaurus
                                 `--Ophthalmosauria


Shastasauridae


Contents

Introduction

The shastasaurs were an assemblage, which may or may not have been a clade, of Triassic ichthyosaurs. They seem to have lacked the familar dorsal fin of their cousins the Euichthyosauria, and the body was more elongate. Some shastasaurs grew to huge size - 10 to 20 meters or more in length

Information

Range: Late Triassic of Japan, China and North America

Phylogeny: Merriamosauria: Euichthyosauria + Shastasauria.

Characters

The following section of this page needs to be wikified. At its simplest, wikifying can just mean adding links to other pages via the edit tab. For help in editing Palaeos org pages, see the edit help page

Characters: medium to quite large in size; teeth isodont [S97]; implantation probably aulacodont in some species [Mo97]; $ parapophysis diminishes and disappears along cervical series [S97]; $ diapophysis elongates along cervical series [S97]; in Shonisaurus, diapophysis may split briefly into two dorsal & ventral, separate articulations over dorsal series [C80], [S97]; diapophysis separates from neural arch midway through dorsal series & moves down centra, becoming rounded instead of elongate [S97] (see also image at Californosaurus); no dorsal fin or semilunate caudal "fin"; less than 4 complete digits on fins [S97] [M97]; humerus very robust & usually as wide as long [M99]; humerus anterior flange reduced, thickened, and may be emarginated in the middle [M99]; humerus anterior flange tilted slightly dorsally [M99]; reduction of posterior humeral shaft proximally and distally [M99]; humerus with articular facet for radius enlarged, twice as wide as ulnar facet [M99]; deltopectoral ridge may run anterodistally or distally from deltopectoral crest, or posterodistally (plesiomorphic state) [M99]; humerus posterodistal tuberosity pronounced [M99]; humeral head may be directed proximodorsally (not proximally) &, if so, scapula glenoid facet tilted ventrally [M99]; movement still basically anguilliform.

References: Camp (1980) [C80], McGowan (1997) [M97]; Motani (1997) [Mo97]; Motani (1999) [M99]; Sander (1997) [S97].

References

  • Camp, CL (1980), Large ichthyosaurs from the Upper Triassic of Nevada. Palaeontographica Ser. A. 170: 139-200
  • McGowan, C (1997), A transitional ichthyosaur fauna, in JM Callaway & EL Nicholls (eds.), Ancient Marine Reptiles. Academic Press, pp. 61-80.
  • Motani, R. (1997), Temporal and spatial distribution of tooth implantation in ichthyosaurs, in JM Callaway & EL Nicholls (eds.), Ancient Marine Reptiles. Academic Press. pp. 81-103.
  • Motani, R (1999), On the evolution and homologies of ichthyopterygian forelimbs. J. Vert. Paleontol. 19: 28-41. PDF
  • Sander, PM (1997), The paleogeography of Shastasaurus, in JM Callaway & EL Nicholls (eds.), Ancient Marine Reptiles. Academic Press, pp. 17-43.

Links

The following section is in html (web page) format and needs to be converted to wiki markup. This involves removing the html tags and replacing them with wiki tags. For help in editing Palaeos org pages, see the edit help page

<a href="http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/motani/ichthyo/taxa.html">Eyes</a>; <a href="http://www.cmnh.org/fun/dinosaur-archive/2001Jul/msg00107.html">New Shastasaurid from Canada</a>; <a href="http://www.valceresio.org/ittio/4.17_bes.htm">Besanosaurus</a> (Italian); <a href="http://www.fogato.com/modelli/besanosaur/besanosauro.html">modello del besanosauro</a>; <a href="http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/glossary/indexbe.shtml">Paleontology and Geology Glossary: Be</a>; <a href="http://exn.ca/Stories/1999/09/15/53.asp">EXN Science Wire: Daily news from the world of science</a>; <a href="http://www.svpca.org/previousyears/2000/abstracts/abstractslm.html">SVPCA 2000 -Abstracts L-M</a>; <a href="http://www.nrc.ca/cgi-bin/cisti/journals/rp/rp2_abst_e?cjes_e00-115_38_ns_nf_cjes6-01">NRC Research Press: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences</a>; <a href="http://www.svpca.org/personalaccounts/dn2000/06.marine.reptiles.html">Darren Naish</a>. <a href="http://alnus.uel.ac.uk/svp/jvp/14-168-179.html">A new species of shastasaurus ...</a>; <a href="http://prehistoricsillustrated.com/welcome.html">Welcome to Prehistorics Illustrated</a>; <a href="http://www.dinosaurier-interesse.de/web/Saurierarten/Ichthyosauria.html">Dinosaurier-Interesse - Saurier- Ordnung der Ichthyosauria</a> (German); <a href="http://www.dinodata.net/Marine/ichtyo.htm">DinoData Marine Reptiles Ichtyo</a>; <a href="http://www.uoregon.edu/~rmotani/pdf/sMotani1999a.pdf">ON THE EVOLUTION AND HOMOLOGIES OF ICHTHYOPTERYGIAN FOREFINS</a>; <a href="http://www.territoriodosdinossauros.hpg.ig.com.br/assuntojunho1.htm">TERRITÓRIO DOS DINOSSAUROS</a> (Portuguese: extensive discussion of Shonisaurus); <a href="http://www.cmnh.org/dinoarch/2000Oct/msg00427.html">Re- NEW RHYNCHOSAUR & TEMNOSPONDYLS</a> (summarizes some new phylogenies); <a href="http://www.tantiauguri.net/ricerche/dinosauri_GB.htm">Scopriamo insieme</a>.  

Credits

ATW031003 Palaeos com

Retrieved from "http://www.palaeos.org/Shastasauridae"
Personal tools