From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Aegirosaurus
Aegirosaurus
Life Genus: †Aegirosaurus
Aegirosaurus Bardet & Fernandez, 2000
Jurassic- Cretaceous,
Temporal range: Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, Tithonian–Valanginian
Species: †A. leptospondylus
A.
PreЄ
Pre
Є Binomial name
O
S Aegirosaurus leptospondylus
D (Wagner, 1853 [originally Ichthyosaurus])
C
P Aegirosaurus is an extinct genus of platypterygiine oph-
T thalmosaurid ichthyosaur known from the Late Jurassic
J
and Early Cretaceous of Europe.
K
Pg
N Discovery and species
Originally described by Wagner (1853) as Ichthyosaurus
leptospondylus, it has had an unstable taxonomic history.
It has also been named Ichthyosaurus trigonus posthumus,
and identified with Macropterygius and Brachypterygius ex-
tremus. In 2000, Bardet and Fernández found that the
holotype specimen of Macropterygius is undiagnosible,
thus this genus is a nomen dubium. They selected a com-
plete skeleton in a private collection as the neotype for
this species, as the only other described specimen was
destroyed in World War II. A second specimen from the
Munich collection was referred to the same taxon. Bardet
and Fernández concluded that the neotype should be as-
signed to a new genus, Aegirosaurus. The name means ’Ae-
gir (teutonic god of the ocean) lizard with slender verte-
brae’.[1]
Within Ophthalmosauridae, Aegirosaurus was regard-
ed to be most closely related to Ophthalmosaurus.[2] How-
ever, many recent cladistic analyses found it to be more
closely related to Sveltonectes (and probably to Un-
dorosaurus). Aegirosaurus lineage was found to include
Brachypterygius and Maiaspondylus too, and to nest within
Platypterygiinae which is the sister taxon of Ophthal-
mosaurinae.[3][4]
Fossil
Stratigraphic range
Scientific classification
Aegirosaurus is known from the lower Tithonian (Upper
Kingdom: Animalia Jurassic) of Bavaria, Germany. Its remains were discov-
Phylum: Chordata
ered in the Solnhofen limestone formations, the same
formations that have yielded numerous well-known fos-
Class: Reptilia sils, such as Archaeopteryx, Compsognathus and Pterodacty-
Order: †Ichthyosauria lus.
In addition to its late Jurassic occurrence, Ae-
Family: †Ophthalmosauridae girosaurus has recently been discovered from the late
Subfamily: †Platypterygiinae Valanginian (Early Cretaceous) of Southeastern France
(Laux-Montaux, department of Drôme; Vocontian Basin),
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Aegirosaurus
the first diagnostic ichthyosaur recorded from the western Russia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31
Valanginian[5]. This shows that most types of Late Juras- (5): 1010–1025. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.595464.
sic ichthyosaurs crossed the Jurassic-Cretaceous bound- http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/
ary. 02724634.2011.595464.
[4] Valentin Fischer, Michael W. Maisch, Darren Naish,
Palaeobiology Ralf Kosma, Jeff Liston, Ulrich Joger, Fritz J. Krüger,
Judith Pardo Pérez, Jessica Tainsh and Robert M.
It was a small genus of ichthyosaur, with adults being Appleby (2012). "New Ophthalmosaurid
less than two metres in length.[1]. Tooth morphology and Ichthyosaurs from the European Lower Cretaceous
wear pattern suggest that Aegirosaurus belonged to the Demonstrate Extensive Ichthyosaur Survival across
“Pierce II/ Generalist” feeding guild [5]. the Jurassic–Cretaceous Boundary". PLoS ONE 7 (1):
e29234. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029234.
References http://www.plosone.org/article/
info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029234.
[1] ^ Bardet N, Fernández M. 2000. A new ichthyosaur [5] ^ V. Fischer, A. Clement, M. Guiomar, P. Godefroit.
from the Upper Jurassic lithographic limestones of 2011. The first definite record of a Valanginian
Bavaria.Journal of Paleontology 74 (3): 503-511. ichthyosaur and its implications on the evolution
[2] Fernández M. 2007. Redescription and of post-Liassic Ichthyosauria, Cretaceous Research,
phylogenetic position of Caypullisaurus 32: 155-163, ISSN 0195-6671, DOI: 10.1016/
(Ichthyosauria: Ophthalmosauridae). Journal of j.cretres.2010.11.005.
Paleontology 81 (2): 368-375. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/
[3] Fischer, Valentin; Edwige Masure, Maxim S. B6WD3-51HD6TX-1/2/
Arkhangelsky and Pascal Godefroit (2011). "A new 850e23470e4fac0d574b11e4b7730655)
Barremian (Early Cretaceous) ichthyosaur from
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aegirosaurus&oldid=469727998"
Categories:
• Cretaceous ichthyosaurs
• Fossil taxa described in 2000
• Ichthyosaurs of Europe
• Jurassic ichthyosaurs
• Solnhofen fauna
• Prehistoric reptile stubs
• Jurassic reptile stubs
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