Platypterygius

Restoration of P. longmani

Platypterygius reached a length of about 7 metres (23 ft). It had a long snout and a powerful finned tail. There are more digits in the front flippers than is usual in ichthyosaurs; they are tightly bound in rows, giving a broad, flat appearance . This unusual characteristic gives the genus its name, meaning 'flat wing.' Furthermore, some of the wrist bones have disappeared entirely. CAT scans on a juvenile specimen strongly suggest that Platypterygius was deaf.[2]

There are eight named species. Both adults and juveniles have been unearthed, including newborns and pregnant females which indicate that, like other ichthyosaurs, Platypterygius gave live birth.

The remains from Australia were originally called Ichthyosaurus australis. They are from the Toolebuc Formation and Allaru Mudstone (Albian, Lower Cretaceous) of Flinders River and other localities in north central Queensland. In 1990 Wade erected the species name P. longmani to include all remains previously referred to I. australis.

Formerly assigned species

Skull of P. sp., Sternberg Museum of Natural History

• Pervushovisaurus bannovkensis Arkhangelsky, 1998[3]
• Pervushovisaurus campylodon Carter, 1846[4]
• Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi Otschev and Efimov, 1985[3]
• Plutoniosaurus bedengensis Efimov, 1997
• Platypterygius ochevi Arkhangelsky et al., 2008
• Ichthyosaurus steleodon Bogolobov, 1909

Photo, 3D model and tomography of the left flipper of P. sachicarum on the cover of Boletín de Geología

The cladogram below follows the topology from a 2010 analysis by Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Erin E. Maxwell.[5]

P. kiprijanovi - Albian-Cenomanian of Kursk region (Russia)

P. australis has been found with remains of sea turtles and birds (Nanantius) in its guts.[7] Several species attributed to this genus do indeed appear to be apex predators, specialized to hunting proportionally large prey.[8]

Fossils of Platypterygius are known from:[9]

• Río Belgrano Formation, Argentina[10]
• Allaru, Toolebuc and Wallumbilla Formations, Australia[10]
• Loon River Formation, Northwest Territories and Ashville Formation, Saskatchewan, Canada[10]
• Zapata Formation, Chile[11]
• Paja Formation, Colombia[12]
• Marnes Bleues and La Penthiève Beds Formations, France
• Germany
• Waiokumurau Valley, New Zealand
• Melovatka Formation, Russia
• La Presta, Switzerland
• Gault, Lower Chalk and West Melbury Marly Chalk Formations, England
• Kiowa Shale, Kansas, Grayson Marl, Texas, Mowry Shale and Belle Fourche Formation, Wyoming, United States[10]
• Apón Formation, Venezuela

• List of ichthyosaurs
• Timeline of ichthyosaur research
• Kronosaurus

• Long, J.A., Dinosaurs of Australia and New Zealand, UNSW Press, Australia 1998

• Dann's Dinosaurs
• Platypterygius