Nichollssaura
| Nichollssaura | |
|---|---|
| |
Royal Tyrrell Museum
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Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Clade: | †Leptocleidia |
| Family: | †Leptocleididae |
| Genus: | †Nichollssaura Druckenmiller & Russell, 2009 |
| Species: | †N. borealis
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Nichollssaura borealis (Druckenmiller & Russell, 2008 [originally Nichollsia, preoccupied])
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| Synonyms | |
|
Nichollsia borealis Druckenmiller & Russell, 2008 | |
Nichollssaura is an
extinct genus of leptocleidid[1] plesiosaur from the Early Cretaceous Boreal Sea of North America. The type species is N. borealis, found in the early Albian age Clearwater Formation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.[2]
Taxonomy
The fossil, named after
isopods. Thus, the original authors proposed Nichollssaura as a replacement generic name in 2009.[4]
Description
Life restoration
of two individualsNichollssaura was a small plesiosaur, reaching 2.5–3 m (8.2–9.8 ft) in length and 80 kg (180 lb) in body mass.[5][6][7] It fills an approximate 40-million-year gap in the fossil record of North American plesiosaurs.
The type specimen was discovered in one of
electric shovel operators Greg Fisher and Lorne Cundal.[8]
Classification
Nichollssaura in a cladogram based on Ketchum and Benson (2011):[9]
| Leptocleididae |
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See also
References
- S2CID 12193439.
- ^ Henderson, D. (2013). "A one-in-a-billion dinosaur find". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
- .
- S2CID 83847722.
- ISBN 9780691193809.
- S2CID 18562271.
- ^ "PALAEOBLOG". palaeoblog.blogspot.com. 20 March 2008.
- ^ Ketchum, Hilary F.; Benson, R. B. J. (2011). "A new pliosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Oxford Clay Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of England: evidence for a gracile, longirostrine grade of Early-Middle Jurassic pliosaurids". Special Papers in Palaeontology. 86: 109–129.
External links
- "New "Sea Monster" Species Identified". National Geographic. Archived from the original on February 8, 2012.
- Michael J. Ryan, Ph.D. "Betsy's Plesiosaur, Nichollsia borealis". Palaeoblog. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023.
- "Details on "Nichollsia" borealis". ScienceBlogs. Archived from the original on April 4, 2008.