Californosaurus

Californosaurus ('California lizard') is an extinct genus of ichthyosaur, an extinct marine reptile, from the Lower Hosselkus Limestone (Carnian, Late Triassic) of California.

Californosaurus
Temporal range: 228–210 Ma Late Triassic
Californosaurus perrini
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Sauropsida
Subclass:
Diapsida
Order:
†Ichthyopterygia
Suborder:
†Merriamosauria
Family:
†Californosauridae
Genus:
†Californosaurus

Kuhn, 1934
Binomial name
†Californosaurus perrini
Kuhn, 1934

Taxonomy
Californosaurus with a human to scale.

Merriam (1902) described it as a new species of Shastasaurus, S. perrini.[1] He later recognized the species as generically distinct from the Shastasaurus type species, erecting Delphinosaurus for S. perrini. However, Delphinosaurus had been previously used for an ophthalmosaurid from Albian-Cenomanian deposits in European Russia, and Kuhn (1934) provided the generic replacement name Californosaurus. Merriam (1938) independently erected Perrinosaurus to replace Delphinosaurus, but this is a junior objective synonym.[2][3]

Description
Life reconstruction of Californosaurus perrini

The long-snouted head is small in comparison with the rest of the body, as in basal ichthyosaurs such as Mixosaurus and Cymbospondylus. The tail is sharply turned downwards, in common with more advanced ichthyosaurs, with a small vertical fluke. It may have had a small dorsal fin. There is a small number of pre-sacral vertebrae (45 or 50). The phalanges (digit bones) are circular and widely spaced, giving the flipper a round appearance. It was three metres long.

Biology

It fed on fish and other small marine creatures. Like other ichthyosaurs it probably never ventured onto dry land, and gave birth in the water.

See also

References
    • Merriam, J. C. (1902): Triassic Ichthyopterygia from California and Nevada. – Bulletin of the Department of Geology of the University of California, 3(4): 63–108.
  2. Hilton, R. P., 2003, Dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles of California: University of California Press, 318pp.
  3. Kuhn, O., 1934. Ichthyosauria: Fossilium Catalogous, 1: Animalia, p. 1-75.
  • M. W. Maisch. 2010. Phylogeny, systematics, and origin of the Ichthyosauria - the state of the art. Palaeodiversity 3:151-214


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