Gengasaurus

Gengasaurus is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Jurassic. The type and only species, Gengasaurus nicosiai, was named in 2017, after the locality of Genga, Marche.[1] It lived in Italy about 152 million years ago and it was around 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) long when fully grown.[2]

Gengasaurus
Temporal range: Late Jurassic,
152 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: †Ichthyosauria
Family: †Ophthalmosauridae
Subfamily: †Ophthalmosaurinae
Genus: †Gengasaurus
Parapella et al., 2017
Species:
†G. nicosiai
Binomial name
†Gengasaurus nicosiai
Parapella et al., 2017

The near complete holotype was discovered in 1976 in the Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Calcari ad aptici e Saccocoma Formation at Camponocecchio. It lay undescribed for nearly two decades before it was described in 2016[3][2] - this paper was eventually published in 2017.[1] The holotype is now housed at the Spaelaeo-Palaeontologic Museum in Genga.

References
  1. Ilaria Paparella; Erin E. Maxwell; Angelo Cipriani; Scilla Roncacè; Michael W. Caldwell (2017). "The first ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Upper Jurassic of the Umbrian–Marchean Apennines (Marche, Central Italy)". Geological Magazine. 154 (4): 837–858. Bibcode:2017GeoM..154..837P. doi:10.1017/S0016756816000455.
  2. "Paleo Profile: The Genga Lizard". Scientfic American. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  3. Ilaria Paparella, Erin E. Maxwell, Angelo Cipriani, Scilla Roncacè and Michael W. Caldwell (2016) - The first ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Upper Jurassic of the Umbrian–Marchean Apennines (Marche, Central Italy). Geological Magazine (advance online publication)


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.