Serpianosaurus

Serpianosaurus
Temporal range: Middle Triassic
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Superorder: Sauropterygia
Order: Nothosauroidea
Suborder: Pachypleurosauria
Family: Pachypleurosauridae
Genus: Serpianosaurus
Rieppel, 1989

Serpianosaurus is an extinct genus of pachypleurosaurs.

Serpianosaurus mirigolensis on display at Zurich natural history museum

Fossils of this genus have been found from the middle Grenzbitumenzone, the oldest strata of Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland, an area well known for its abundant pachypleurosaur remains.[1][2] The locality dates back to sometime around the Anisian/Ladinian boundary of the Middle Triassic, around 237 Ma, with Serpianosaurus most likely occurring strictly during the earliest Ladinian. This makes it the oldest sauropterygian from Monte San Giorgio known to date.[3] Certain aspects of its morphology also suggest it is one of the most basal forms.

The genus can be distinguished from other closely related pachypleurosaurs on the basis of its proportionally large skull and straight jaw. Like many other pachypleurosaurs, sexual dimorphism can be seen in Serpianosaurus. Males and females are thought to differ in humeral size and shape. Any pachyostosis of the ribs is absent in Serpianosaurus specimens.[4] It is closely related to the genus Neusticosaurus.[5]

Species

[2][6]

References

  1. ↑ Sander, P. M. (1989). The Pachypleurosaurids (Reptilia: Nothosauria) from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland) with the Description of a New Species. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 325(1230):561-666.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Serpianosaurus in the Paleobiology Database
  3. ↑ Rieppel, C. (1994). The status of Anarosaurus multidentatus von Huen (Reptilia, Sauropterygia), from the Lower Anisian of the Lechtaler Alps (Arlberg, Austria). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 69(1-2):289-299.
  4. ↑ Rieppel, O. (1989). A New Pachypleurosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio, Switzerland. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences 323(1212):1-73.
  5. ↑ Palaeos
  6. ↑ CAJUS G. DIEDRICH THE MARINE PACHYPLEUROSAUR SERPIANOSAURUS GERMANICUS NOV. SPEC. – SKELETON AND ISOLATED BONE REMAINS FROM THE PELSONIAN (MIDDLE TRIASSIC) OF THE EUROPEAN GERMANIC BASIN CARBONATE INTERTIDALS AND ITS PALEOBIOLOGY AND TAPHONOMY