Wahlisaurus

Wahlisaurus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic, Hettangian
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Life reconstruction of the Wahlisaurus massarae holotype individual
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: †Ichthyosauria
Family: †Leptonectidae
Genus: †Wahlisaurus
Lomax, 2016
Type species
†Wahlisaurus massarae
Lomax, 2016

Wahlisaurus is an extinct genus of leptonectid ichthyosaur from the Scunthorpe Mudstone of England.[1] The type species is Wahlisaurus massarae, and two specimens have been found: the first consisting of a skull and an incomplete skeleton, and the second a single coracoid.[2]

Discovery

Wahlisaurus massarae holotype

The holotype specimen, LEICT G454.1951.5, was discovered in the Scunthorpe Mudstone, Barrow upon Soar, Nottinghamshire by Percy Faulkes, and it was donated to the New Walk Museum in Leicester when he died in 1951. Parts of the specimen were then sent on loan to Robert Appleby until he died in 2004, when they were returned back to the Museum.[3]

In 2016, Dean Lomax named and described Wahlisaurus massarae.[3]

The second specimen was found in 1996 and identified as belonging to Wahlisaurus massarae in 2018 in the private collection of Simon Carpenter, who donated the specimen to the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.[4]

Description

Wahlisaurus shares features, such as a slender and long snout, with other leptonectids of that time (e.g. Eurhinosaurus, Excalibosaurus, etc.). The extent of the overbite is less than that of Eurhinosaurus. Differences can be found in Wahlisaurus' shoulder girdle. Both the coracoid and the contact between the coracoid and the scapula possess a foramen.[1]

Etymology

LEICT G454.1951.5 was named in honour of William Wahl and Professor Judy Massare, both specialists in mesozoic marine reptiles who mentored Lomax.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Lomax, Dean R. (2017). "A new leptonectid ichthyosaur from the Lower Jurassic (Hettangian) of Nottinghamshire, England, UK, and the taxonomic usefulness of the ichthyosaurian coracoid". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 15 (5): 1–15. Bibcode:2017JSPal..15..387L. doi:10.1080/14772019.2016.1183149. S2CID 88578965.
  2. ^ Lomax, Dean R.; Evans, Mark & Carpenter, Simon (2019). "An ichthyosaur from the UK Triassic-Jurassic boundary: A second specimen of the leptonectid ichthyosaur Wahlisaurus massarae Lomax 2016". Geological Journal. 54 (1): 83–90. Bibcode:2019GeolJ..54...83L. doi:10.1002/gj.3155.
  3. ^ a b "Wahlisaurus massarae: Forgotten Fossil is New Species of Ancient Dolphin-Like Reptile". SciNews. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Rare ichthyosaur is only second known example". Phys.org. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2021.


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