Nichollssaura

Nichollssaura is an extinct genus of leptocleidid[1] plesiosaur from the Early Cretaceous Boreal Sea of North America. The type species is N. borealis, found in the early Albian age Clearwater Formation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.[2] Nichollssaura fills an approximate 40-million-year gap in the fossil record of North American plesiosaurs.

Two Nichollssaura swimming in the Boreal Sea.

Nichollssaura
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 110 Ma
↓
Nichollssaura at the Royal Tyrrell Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: †Sauropterygia
Order: †Plesiosauria
Clade: †Leptocleidia
Family: †Leptocleididae
Genus: †Nichollssaura
Druckenmiller & Russell, 2009
Species:
†N. borealis
Binomial name
†Nichollssaura borealis
(Druckenmiller & Russell, 2008 [originally Nichollsia, preoccupied)
Synonyms

Nichollsia borealis Druckenmiller & Russell, 2008

The type specimen was discovered in one of Syncrude Canada Ltd.'s open-pit oilsand mines near Fort McMurray, Alberta, in 1994. The fossil is on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, missing only the left forelimb and scapula, lost when the specimen was discovered accidentally by 100-ton electric shovel operators Greg Fisher and Lorne Cundal.[3]

Etymology

The fossil, named after paleontological curator Dr. Betsy Nicholls, originally was named Nichollsia borealis[4] but Nichollsia was already in use (preoccupied) by a genus of isopods. Thus, the original authors proposed Nichollssaura as a replacement generic name in 2009.[5]

gollark: But not that?!
gollark: Untaken is taken. Untaken is Taken is taken. Untaken is Taken is Taken is taken.
gollark: ¿?
gollark: It actually says that.
gollark: ```Like some species of flamingos, Penk eats a large amount of shrimp and algae high in carotenoids, giving rise to her rosy hue. Penk would, under other circumstances, be a regular, silver-colored member of her breed.```

See also

References
  1. Ketchum, H. F. & Benson, R. B. J. (2010). "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses". Biological Reviews. 85 (2): 361–392. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00107.x. PMID 20002391.
  2. Henderson, D. (2013). "A one-in-a-billion dinosaur find". The Guardian. Retrieved 2013-11-21.
  3. "PALAEOBLOG". palaeoblog.blogspot.com.
  4. Druckenmiller, P.S.; Russell, A.P. (2008). "Skeletal anatomy of an exceptionally complete specimen of a new genus of plesiosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Early Albian) of northeastern Alberta, Canada". Palaeontographica Abteilung A. 283: 1–33.
  5. Druckenmiller, Patrick S.; Russell, Anthony P. (2009). "The new plesiosaurian genus Nichollssaura from Alberta, Canada: replacement name for the preoccupied genus Nichollsia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (1): 276. doi:10.1080/02724634.2009.10010379.


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