Article (Scientific journals)
Simbirskiasaurus and Pervushovisaurus reassessed: implications for the taxonomy and cranial osteology of Cretaceous platypterygiine ichthyosaurs
Fischer, Valentin; Arkhangelsky, Maxim; Stenshin, Ilya et al.
2014In Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 171 (4), p. 822–841
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
 

Files


Full Text
Fischer et al 2014 ZJLS authorpostprint.pdf
Author postprint (16.7 MB)
Download

All documents in ORBi are protected by a user license.

Send to



Details



Keywords :
Ichthyosauria; Cranial anatomy; Russia; Cretaceous; Barremian; Cenomanian; Platypterygiinae; Ophthalmosauridae; Naris; Narial aperture
Abstract :
[en] The ichthyosaur fossil record is interspersed by several hiatuses, notably during the Cretaceous. This hampers our understanding of the evolution and extinction of this group of marine reptiles during the last 50 million years of its history. Several Cretaceous ichthyosaur taxa named in the past have subsequently been dismissed and referred to the highly inclusive taxon Platypterygius, a trend that has created the impression of low Cretaceous ichthyosaur diversity. Here, we describe the cranial osteology, reassess the stratigraphic age, and evaluate the taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of two Cretaceous ichthyosaurs from western Russia: Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi from the early Barremian and Pervushovisaurus bannovkensis from the middle Cenomanian, both formerly regarded as nomina dubia, and allocated to Platypterygius sp. and Platypterygius campylodon, respectively. We show that Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi and Pervushovisaurus bannovkensis are valid platypterygiine ophthalmosaurids, notably characterized by a peculiar narial aperture. The cranial anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of these taxa illuminate the evolution of narial aperture anatomy in Cretaceous ichthyosaurs, clarify the phylogenetic relationships among platypterygiines, and provide further arguments for a thorough revision of Platypterygius.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Zoology
Author, co-author :
Fischer, Valentin  ;  Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géologie > Paléontologie animale et humaine
Arkhangelsky, Maxim
Stenshin, Ilya
Uspensky, Gleb
Godefroit, Pascal
Language :
English
Title :
Simbirskiasaurus and Pervushovisaurus reassessed: implications for the taxonomy and cranial osteology of Cretaceous platypterygiine ichthyosaurs
Publication date :
2014
Journal title :
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
ISSN :
0024-4082
eISSN :
1096-3642
Publisher :
Blackwell Publishing
Volume :
171
Issue :
4
Pages :
822–841
Peer reviewed :
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Funders :
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique [BE]
Available on ORBi :
since 09 August 2014

Statistics


Number of views
60 (6 by ULiège)
Number of downloads
298 (3 by ULiège)

Scopus citations®
 
34
Scopus citations®
without self-citations
31
OpenCitations
 
33

Bibliography


Similar publications



Contact ORBi