Gunakadeit
Gunakadeit | |
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Articulated skeleton | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | †Thalattosauria |
Superfamily: | †Thalattosauroidea |
Genus: | †Gunakadeit Druckenmiller et al., 2020 |
Type species | |
†Gunakadeit joseeae Druckenmiller et al., 2020
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Gunakadeit is an
Discovery
The
The descriptors chose to honour the Native American Tlingit culture in the name of the new thalattosaur. The genus name Gunakadeit is a Tlingit word, referring to a sea monster in Tlingit mythology whose skin was worn by a young man to provide food to his village. The epithet, joseeae, honours Gene Primaky's mother, Joseé Michelle DeWaelheyns. Primaky helped to excavate the holotype.[1][2]
Description
Skull
The skull had a straight snout which ended in a sharply pointed tip somewhat reminiscent of the askeptosauroid
The front of the lower jaw is straight and toothless, with both sides fused together into an extensive and pointed symphysis. The rear of the jaw has a low and thick coronoid process and ends in an elongated, upturned retroarticular process. The lower jaw preserves many similar teeth with sharp, conical crowns. The teeth had long and flattened roots attached to the jaw bone via loose pleurodont implantation. Gunakadeit also has one of the most well-preserved hyoid apparatus known in thalattosaurs. The hyoid (as preserved) consists of a large rod, the ceratobranchial, which is lies adjacent to a large plate (the basihyoid) and is followed by several smaller and thinner rods (epibranchials).[1]
Postcrania
The neck is very short, formed by only four
The interclavicle had uniquely extensive lateral processes (side branches), which connected to very long and robust clavicles. The scapula and coracoid were smaller and less unusual in their proportions. The humerus was simple and flattened. Its widest point was near the shoulder, unlike askeptosauroids. The radius is thick and curved, though not as short as the similarly-shaped radius of Xinpusaurus. It was slightly shorter than the humerus and similar in length to the robust, tapering ulna. The wrist and hand are poorly preserved, but there appears to be at least two carpals and four fingers.[1]
The posterodorsal process (upper rear branch) of the ilium tapers to a point, a shape otherwise unknown in thalattosaurs. A bone tentatively identified as the pubis is large, wide, and lacks an obturator foramen (a hole present in other thalattosaur hips). The femur is fairly simple and widens towards the knee. The fibula is very short, as is the tibia which has a uniquely convex inner edge. At least six tarsals and five toes were present, although most bones of the foot are poorly preserved.[1]
Classification
A
References
- ^ PMID 32019943.
- ^ a b "New thalattosaur species discovered in Southeast Alaska: Gunakadeit joseeae is the most complete thalattosaur ever found in North America". ScienceDaily. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-11.