Sachicasaurus
| Sachicasaurus Temporal range: Barremian
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| Holotype specimen of Sachicasaurus. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Family: | †Pliosauridae |
| Genus: | †Sachicasaurus |
| Species: | †S. vitae
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| Binomial name | |
| †Sachicasaurus vitae Páramo Fonseca et al., 2019
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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.
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[]
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 Monquirasaurus.[7] It is also contemporaneous with the elasmosaurids Callawayasaurus and Leivanectes,[8] the marine turtle Desmatochelys padillai,[9] the sandowniid turtle Leyvachelys,[10] and the ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs Muiscasaurus and Kyhytysuka.[11][12]
References[]
- ^ Páramo Fonseca et al., 2018, p.225
- ^ a b Páramo Fonseca et al., 2018, p.226
- ^ Páramo Fonseca et al., 2018, p.232
- ^ Páramo Fonseca et al., 2018, p.224
- ^ Gómez Pérez & Noè, 2017
- ^ Páramo et al., 2016
- ^ Noè, L.F.; Gómez-Pérez, M. (2021). "Giant pliosaurids (Sauropterygia; Plesiosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous peri-Gondwanan seas of Colombia and Australia". Cretaceous Research. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105122.
- ^ Páramo Fonseca et al., 2019
- ^ Cadena et al., 2015a
- ^ Cadena et al., 2015b
- ^ Maxwell et al., 2015
- ^ Cortés, D.; Maxwell, E.E.; Larsson, H.C.E. (2021). "Re-appearance of hypercarnivore ichthyosaurs in the Cretaceous with differentiated dentition: revision of Platypterygius sachicarum (Reptilia:Ichthyosauria, Ophthalmosauridae) from Colombia". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology: 1–34. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.1989507.
Bibliography[]
- Sachicasaurus
- ; , and . 2018. A new large pliosaurid from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Sáchica, Boyacá, Colombia. 22. 223–238. Accessed 2019-03-09.
- Other paleofauna
- , and . 2015a. Oldest known marine turtle? A new protostegid from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia. PaleoBios 32. 1–42. Accessed 2017-03-30.
- . 2015b. The first South American sandownid turtle from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia. PeerJ 3. e1431. Accessed 2017-03-30.
- , and . 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.
- ; ; , and . 2015. A new ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Colombia. Papers in Palaeontology 2. 59–70. Accessed 2017-03-30.
- ; ; ; , and . 2019. A new late Aptian elasmosaurid from the Paja Formation, Villa de Leiva, Colombia. Cretaceous Research in press. _. Accessed 2019-03-09.
- ; ; , and . 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.
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| Major fossiliferous stratigraphic units |
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- Pliosaurids
- Early Cretaceous reptiles of South America
- Barremian life
- Cretaceous Colombia
- Fossils of Colombia
- Paja Formation
- Fossil taxa described in 2018
- Taxa named by María Páramo
- Muysccubun
- Sauropterygian genera