Nichollssaura

Nichollssaura Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 110 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Nichollssaura at the Royal Tyrrell Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Sauropterygia
Order:	†Plesiosauria
Node:	†Leptocleidia
Family:	†Leptocleididae
Genus:	†Nichollssaura Druckenmiller & Russell, 2009
Species:	†N. borealis
Binomial name
Nichollssaura borealis (Druckenmiller & Russell, 2008 [originally Nichollsia, preoccupied)
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 early Albian deposits of Alberta, Canada. Nichollssaura fills an approximate 40-million-year gap in the fossil record of North American plesiosaurs.

Two Nichollssaura swimming in the Boreal Sea.

It was discovered in a Syncrude mine in Alberta, Canada in 1994. The fossil is on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, missing only the left forelimb and scapula, lost when the beast was discovered accidentally by 100-ton electric shovel operators Greg Fisher and Lorne Cundal.^[2]

Etymology

The fossil, named after paleontological curator Betsy Nicholls, originally was named Nichollsia borealis^[3] but Nichollsia was already in use (preoccupied) by a genus of isopods. Thus, the original authors proposed Nichollssaura as a replacement generic name in 2009.^[4]

References

1. ^ Ketchum, H. F., and Benson, R. B. J. (2010). "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses". Biological Reviews 85 (2): 361–392. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00107.x. PMID 20002391. 
2. ^ PALAEOBLOG
3. ^ Druckenmiller, P.S.; Russell, A.P. (2008). "Skeletal anatomy of an exceptionally complete specimen of a new genus of plesiosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Early Albian) of northeastern Alberta, Canada". Palaeontographica Abteilung A 283: 1–33. 
4. ^ Druckenmiller, Patrick S.; and Russell, Anthony P. (2009). "The new plesiosaurian genus Nichollssaura from Alberta, Canada: replacement name for the preoccupied genus Nichollsia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29 (1): 276. doi:10.1080/02724634.2009.10010379. 

External links

Paleontology portal

• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080326-ancient-reptile.html
• http://palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/betsys-plesiosaur-nichollsia-borealis.html
• http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2008/03/details_on_nichollsia_borealis.php

This article about a plesiosaur is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Cretaceous plesiosaurs Prehistoric reptiles of North America Fossil taxa described in 2009 Plesiosaur stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР? Nichollsia (disambiguation) Nichols, California Look at other dictionaries: Liste de plésiosaures — Cette liste de plésiosaures est une liste complète des différents genres classés dans l ordre des plesiosauria, en excluant les termes vernaculaires. Cette liste inclut tous les genres reconnus et acceptés, mais aussi les genres aujourd hui… …   Wikipédia en Français Liste des plésiosaures — Liste de plésiosaures Cette liste de plésiosaures est une liste compréhensive des différents genres qui ont été classé dans l ordre des plesiosauria, en excluant les termes vernaculaires. Cette liste inclut tous les genres reconnus et acceptés,… …   Wikipédia en Français 2009 in paleontology —             List of years in paleontology       (table) … 1999 .  2000 .  2001 .  2002  . 2003  . 2004  . 2005 … 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 … 2013… …   Wikipedia Список плезиозавров — Здесь приведён список плезиозавров отряд вымерших водоплавающих рептилий триасового и мелового периодов. Плезиозавры делятся на два подотряда: длинношеих плезиозавроидов (включая семейство цимолиазавров) и короткошеих плиозавроидов. Список родов… …   Википедия Elasmosaurus — Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 80.5 Ma …   Wikipedia Plesiosauria — Temporal range: Early Jurassic Late Cretaceous, 199.6–65.5 Ma …   Wikipedia Liopleurodon — Temporal range: Middle–Late Jurassic, 162–150 Ma …   Wikipedia Cryptoclidus — Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, Callovian …   Wikipedia Elasmosauridae — Elasmosaurids Temporal range: Late Triassic Late Cretaceous, 210–65 Ma …   Wikipedia Muraenosaurus — Temporal range: Middle Jurassic, Callovian …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”