Arthropterygius

Arthropterygius
Arthropterygius
Temporal range: Late Jurassic
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: †Ichthyosauria
Family: †Ophthalmosauridae
Genus: †Arthropterygius
Maxwell, 2010
Species: †A. chrisorum
Binomial name
Arthropterygius chrisorum
(Russel, 1993 [originally Ophthalmosaurus])

Arthropterygius is an ichthyosaur which existed in Canada during the late Jurassic period. It contains the type species Arthropterygius chrisorum, named in 2010 by Erin E. Maxwell. Arthropterygius is the generic replacement name for Ophthalmosaurus chrisorum, named in 1993 from fossils found on Melville Island in the Northwest Territories. It's fossils are the most complete of any ichthyosaur in the Canadian Arctic. A. chrisorum has several features that separate it from the genus Ophthalmosaurus, including a highly angled articulation between the radius and ulna and the humerus and a foramen for the internal carotid artery (a major artery that supplies blood to the brain) on the posterior surface of the basisphenoid. Maxwell 2010 found it to be the sister taxon of Caypullisaurus, an ophthalmosaurid from Argentina.[1]

References

  1. ^ Maxwell, E.E. (2010). "Generic reassignment of an ichthyosaur from the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Northwest Territories, Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (2): 403–415. doi:10.1080/02724631003617944. 
Stub icon This Ichthyosaur-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.