Sachicasaurus

Sachicasaurus is an extinct genus of brachauchenine pliosaurid known from the Barremian of the Paja Formation, Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Colombian Eastern Ranges of the Andes. The type species is S. vitae.

Sachicasaurus Temporal range: Barremian ~130–120 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Holotype specimen of Sachicasaurus.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Sauropterygia
Order:	†Plesiosauria
Family:	†Pliosauridae
Genus:	†Sachicasaurus
Species:	†S. vitae
Binomial name
†Sachicasaurus vitae Páramo Fonseca et al., 2019

Etymology

The genus name Sachicasaurus refers to Sáchica, the village where the fossil was found, and saurus, meaning "lizard" in Greek.[1] The species epithet vitae, meaning "life" in Latin, was chosen because of the life in Sáchica the fossil find has sparked.[2]

Description

Size comparison

The holotype specimen, MP111209-1, is known from a near complete skull, and postcranial elements including a complete hindlimb and various vertebrae. Diagnostic features include a very short mandibular symphysis, reduced number of mandibular teeth (17 to 18 versus 25 to 40 in other pliosaurids),[3] slender teeth, among other features. The specimen has an estimated length of almost 10 metres (33 ft).[4] The specimen is interpreted as a sub-adult individual.[2]

Paleoenvironment

Sachicasaurus is one of four pliosaurids from the Paja Formation, others being Acostasaurus,[5] Stenorhynchosaurus,[6] and "Kronosaurus" boyacensis. It is also contemporaneous with the elasmosaurids Callawayasaurus and Leivanectes,[7] the marine turtle Desmatochelys padillai,[8] the sandowniid turtle Leyvachelys,[9] and the ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs Muiscasaurus and Platypterygius sachicarum.[10]

References

1. Páramo Fonseca et al., 2018, p.225
2. Páramo Fonseca et al., 2018, p.226
3. Páramo Fonseca et al., 2018, p.232
4. Páramo Fonseca et al., 2018, p.224
5. Gómez Pérez & Noè, 2017
6. Páramo et al., 2016
7. Páramo Fonseca et al., 2019
8. Cadena et al., 2015a
9. Cadena et al., 2015b
10. Maxwell et al., 2015

Bibliography

Sachicasaurus

• Páramo Fonseca, María Eurídice; Cristian David Benavides Cabra, and Ingry Esmirna Gutiérrez. 2018. A new large pliosaurid from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Sáchica, Boyacá, Colombia. Earth Sciences Research Journal 22. 223–238. Accessed 2019-03-09.

Other paleofauna

• Cadena, Edwin A., and James F. Parham. 2015a. Oldest known marine turtle? A new protostegid from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia. PaleoBios 32. 1–42. Accessed 2017-03-30.
• Cadena, Edwin. 2015b. The first South American sandownid turtle from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia. PeerJ 3. e1431. Accessed 2017-03-30.
• Gómez Pérez, Marcela, and Leslie F. Noè. 2017. Cranial anatomy of a new pliosaurid Acostasaurus pavachoquensis from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia, South America. Palaeontographica Abteilung A 310. 5–42. Accessed 2019-03-09.
• Maxwell, Erin E.; Daniel Dick; Santiago Padilla, and Mary Luz Parra. 2015. A new ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Colombia. Papers in Palaeontology 2. 59–70. Accessed 2017-03-30.
• Páramo Fonseca, María Euridice; José Patricio O'Gorman; Zulma Gasparini; Santiago Padilla, and Mary Luz Parra Ruge. 2019. A new late Aptian elasmosaurid from the Paja Formation, Villa de Leiva, Colombia. Cretaceous Research in press. _. Accessed 2019-03-09.
• Páramo, María E.; Marcela Gómez Pérez; Leslie F. Noé, and Fernando Etayo. 2016. Stenorhynchosaurus munozi, gen. et sp. nov. a new pliosaurid from the Upper Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Villa de Leiva, Colombia, South America. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales 40. 84–103. Accessed 2017-04-20.