Callawayasaurus
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Callawayasaurus is a genus of plesiosaur from the family Elasmosauridae. When the holotype was first described by Samuel Paul Welles in 1962,[1] it was described as Alzadasaurus colombiensis before being moved into its current genus by Kenneth Carpenter in 1999.[2]
History
Callawayasaurus is named in honor of the paleontologist Jack M. Callaway, editor of Ancient Marine Reptiles who, as Carpenter put it, "in his brief career as a vertebrate paleontologist, did much to improve our understanding of marine reptiles."[2] The familiar suffix, -saurus comes from the Greek Script error: No such module "Lang". (Script error: No such module "Lang".), meaning "lizard" or "reptile".[3]
Description
Callawayasaurus was a large plesiosaur, with a skull length of Script error: No such module "convert". and body length of Script error: No such module "convert"..[4][5] The nares of Callawayasaurus are elongated and positioned over the maxilla, which has 3-5 teeth.[3] The neck contains 56 vertebrae which are relatively short compared to other elasmosaurids.[3] Callawayasaurus fossils have no pectoral bars; in common with other plesiosaurs such as Terminonatator. They also lack postaxial accessory facets.[6]
Another nearly complete skeleton was found to be slightly more robust than the holotype specimen. This subtle change may indicate sexual dimorphism.[3]
Paleoenvironment
The first Callawayasaurus remains were found in the Paja Formation near Leiva, Boyaca Colombia.[3] The specific name for the type, "columbiensis", means "from Colombia".[3] Callawayasaurus are known from the Aptian faunal stage of the early Cretaceous period, which extended from 125 to 112 million years ago.[7]
See also
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References
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- ↑ S. P. Welles. (1962). A new species of elasmosaur from the Aptian of Colombia and a review of the Cretaceous plesiosaurs. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 44(1):1-96
- ↑ a b Carpenter, K. 1999. "Revision of North American elasmosaurs from the Cretaceous of the Western Interior". Paludicola 2(2):148-173.
- ↑ a b c d e f Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Anthony P. Russell., "A new Elasmosaurid Plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the lower Cretaceous Clearwater Formation, Northeastern Alberta, Canada". Vertebrate Morphology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links
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- Elasmosauridae
- Early Cretaceous plesiosaurs
- Early Cretaceous reptiles of South America
- Plesiosaurs of South America
- Cretaceous Colombia
- Fossils of Colombia
- Altiplano Cundiboyacense
- Paja Formation
- Fossil taxa described in 1999
- Taxa named by Kenneth Carpenter
- Sauropterygian genera