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Delphinosaurus

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Delphinosaurus
Temporal range:Early-Late Cretaceous,103–98Ma
Scientific classification
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Delphinosaurus

Eichwald, 1853
Binomial name
Delphinosaurus kiprijanoffi
Eichwald, 1853

Delphinosaurusis a dubious genus ofophthalmosauridichthyosaurfromAlbian-Cenomaniandeposits in theKursk regionofEuropeanRussia.

Merriam (1905) erectedDelphinosaurusfor the Late Triassic ichthyosaurShastasaurus perrinifrom California, but becauseDelphinosauruswas already in use, the replacement nameCalifornosauruswas erected.[1]

Classification

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Karl Eduard von Eichwald(1853) erectedDelphinosaurusfor eight mandible fragments, twelve teeth, one rib, two centra, one humerus and one epipodial from the iron-rich sands of the Kursk area dating to the Albian–Cenomanian boundary. He classified the remains as those of amphibians, because of the presence of dolphin and reptile features, suggesting an intermediate form in between these groups, hence the name.[2]Later, however, he recognizedDelphinosaurusas being an ichthyosaur in an 1865 monograph.[3]

In the supplementary material for their paper explaining the extinction of ichthyosaurs, Fischer et al. (2016) treatedDelphinosaurusas a dubious genus of ophthalmosaurid, raising the possibility that the hypodigm forD. kiprijanoffiis composite due to some teeth resemblingSisteronia,and the humerus being morphologically distinct fromSisteronia.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Hilton, R. P., (2003), Dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles of California:University of California Press,318pp.
  2. ^Eichwald, K. E. (1853). Einige paläontologische Bemerkungen über den Eisensand von Kursk.Bull. la Société Impériale des Nat. Moscou2, 209–231.
  3. ^Eichwald, K. E. (1865). Lethaea Rossica ou Paléontologie de la Russie. Second Volume.Période Moyenne.).
  4. ^Fischer, V.; Bardet, N.; Benson, R.; Arkhangelsky, M.S.; Friedman, M. (2016)."Extinction of fish-shaped marine reptiles associated with reduced evolutionary rates and global environmental volatility".Nature Communications.7:10825.doi:10.1038/ncomms10825.PMC4786747.PMID26953824.