Platypterygius
| Platypterygius Temporal range: Early - Late Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
 | |
| P. americanus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Order: | Ichthyosauria |
| Family: | Ophthalmosauridae |
| Subfamily: | Platypterygiinae |
| Genus: | Platypterygius von Huene, 1922 |
| Species | |
Platypterygius ('Flat wing (flipper)', von Huene 1922) is an ichthyosaur of the family Ophthalmosauridae. It is most closely related to the genera Caypullisaurus and Brachypterygius.[2]
Discovery and species
Fossils are known from Australia, Russia, United States of America, Colombia,[3] Western Europe and possibly New Zealand. There are seven named species. Both adults and juveniles have been unearthed, including newborns and pregnant females. 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 .
The cladogram below follows the topology from a 2010 analysis by Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Erin E. Maxwell.[4]
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Palaeobiology
Platypterygius reached a length of about 7 m (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.
Species
- Platypterygius platydactylus (Broilli, 1907) (type)
- Platypterygius hercynicus (Kuhn, 1946)
- Platypterygius americanus (Nace 1939)
- Platypterygius kiprijanoffi (Romer 1968)
- Platypterygius australis (McCoy, 1867)
- Platypterygius campylodon (Carter, 1846)
- Platypterygius ochevi Arkhangel’sky et al., 2008
- Platypterygius sachicarum Páramo, 1997
- Platypterygius hautali (von Huene, 1927)
Formerly referred species
- Pervushovisaurus bannovkensis (Arkhangelsky, 1998)[6]
- Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi Otschev and Efimov, 1985[6]
- Plutonisaurus bedengensis Efimov, 1997
- Ichthyosaurus steleodon Bogolobov, 1909
References
- ↑ Arkhangel’sky, M. S., Averianov, A. O., Pervushov, E. M., Ratnikov, V. Yu, and Zozyrev, N. Yu., 2008, On ichthyosaur remains from the Cretaceous of the Voronezh region: Paleontological Journal, v. 42, n. 3, p. 287-291.
- ↑ Fernández M. 2007. Redescription and phylogenetic position of Caypullisaurus (Ichthyosauria: Ophthalmosauridae). Journal of Paleontology 81 (2): 368-375.
- ↑ Páramo, M. E. Platypterygius sachicarum (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) nueva especie del Cretácico de Colombia. Revista Ingeominas 6, 1997: 1–12
- ↑ Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Erin E. Maxwell (2010). "A new Lower Cretaceous (lower Albian) ichthyosaur genus from the Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 47 (8): 1037–1053. Bibcode:2010CaJES..47.1037D. doi:10.1139/E10-028.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Arkhangel’sky, M. S., 1998, On the Ichthyosaurian Genus Platypterygius: Palaeontological Journal, v. 32, n. 6, p. 611-615.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Valentin Fischer, Maxim S. Arkhangelsky, Darren Naish, Ilya M. Stenshin, Gleb N. Uspensky and Pascal Godefroit (2014) Simbirskiasaurus and Pervushovisaurus reassessed: implications for the taxonomy and cranial osteology of Cretaceous platypterygiine ichthyosaurs. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 171(4): 822–841 DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12158 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/zoj.12158/abstract
- Long, J.A., Dinosaurs of Australia and New Zealand, UNSW Press, Australia 1998