Augustasaurus

Taxobox
name = "Augustasaurus"
fossil_range = Middle Triassic

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image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Plesiosauria
familia = Pistosauridae
genus = "Augustasaurus"
genus_authority = Sander, Rieppel & Bucher, 1997
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "Augustasaurus hagdorni" (Type) Sander, Rieppel & Bucher, 1997

"Augustasaurus" is a genus of aquatic sauropterygian reptile belonging to the plesiosaur order. Along with the genus "Pistosaurus", "Augustasaurus" is the only known member of the family Pistosauridae, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Article: pp. 577–592.THE SKULL OF THE PISTOSAUR AUGUSTASAURUS FROM THE MIDDLE TRIASSIC OF NORTHWESTERN NEVADA.OLIVIER RIEPPEL, P. MARTIN SANDER, and GLENN W. STORRS. 1997 ] thought to be a sister group of the order Plesiosauria. Acta Zool. Fennica 213: 1–63 ISBN 951-9481-58-3 ISSN 0001-7299Helsinki 11 December 2001 © Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board 2001A cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision ofthe Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia)Frank Robin O’Keefe. Pg.3 ] The only known species of "Augustasaurus" is "Augustasaurus hagdorni ", which was first described in 1997.

Etymology

The first part of "Augustasaurus"' name comes from the Augusta Mountains of northwestern Nevada,citeweb
url=http://www.plesiosaur.com/database/genusIndividual.php?i=32
title=Plesiosaur.com entry on "Augustasaurus"
accessdate=2008-07-16] where its fossil bones were first discovered. The second part of the name is the Greek word "sauros" ("σαυρος"), which means "lizard" or "reptile." The type species, "Augustasaurus hagdorni", was named in honor of the paleontologist Hans Hagdorn.

Description

"Augustasaurus"' skull shares many general characteristics with its relative, "Pistosaurus", such as tall, blade-like upper temporal arches. The skull's elongated rostrum tapers to a dull point, the anterior premaxillary and maxillary teeth have been described as "fang-like", and the squamosal makes a box-like suspensorium.

The dorsal neural spines of "Augustasaurus" are low with tops [ O’Keefe. Pg.52 ] . Its coracoids are large plates similar to those in other plesiosaurs O'Keefe Pg. 5] . However, the coracoid foramen are missing from "Agustasaurus", in a way similar to those in the plesiosaur "Corosaurus". Its cervical ribs have anterior process,O'Keefe. Pg. 51 ] and like most plesiosaurs, "Augustasaurus"' vertebrae have "thickened transverse processes".

Distribution

"Augustasaurus" is known from the Augusta mountains of northwestern Nevada (United States). The holotype specimen was found in the Favret Formation, which dates from the mid-Triassic period, of Pershing County, Nevada. [ O'Keefe Pg.9 ]

References

External links

*http://www.vertpaleo.org/publications/jvp/22-577-592.cfm
*http://www.plesiosaur.com/database/genusIndividual.php?i=32
*http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/220Lepidosauromorpha/220.400.html