Wahlisaurus

Wahlisaurus is an extinct genus of leptonectid ichthyosaur. The holotype was found in the Scunthorpe Mudstone in Nottinghamshire in 1951 and described in 2016 by Dean Lomax.[1] The type species is Wahlisaurus massare, and two specimens have been found: the first consisting of a skull and an incomplete skeleton, and the second a single coracoid.[2]

Wahlisaurus
Temporal range: Early Jurassic,
Life reconstruction of the Wahlisaurus massare holotype individual
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: †Ichthyosauria
Family: †Leptonectidae
Genus: †Wahlisaurus
Lomax 2016
Type species
†Wahlisaurus massare
Lomax, 2016

Discovery

The first specimen was in the New Walk Museum in Leicester for more than 60 years before it was identified by Dean Lomax as a new species and described in 2016.[3]

The second specimen was found in 1996 and identified as Wahlisaurus in 2018 in the private collection of Simon Carpenter, who donated the specimen to the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.[4]

Description

Wahlisaurus shares features, such as a slender and long snout, with other leptonectids of that time (e.g. Eurhinosaurus, Excalibosaurus, etc.). The extent of the overbite is less than that of Eurhinosaurus. Differences can be found in Wahlisaurus' shoulder girdle. Both the coracoid and the contact between the coracoid and the scapula possess a foramen.[1]

Etymology

LEICT G454.1951.5 was named in honour of William Wahl and Professor Judy Massare, both specialists in mesozoic marine reptiles who mentored Lomax.[1]

References
  1. Lomax, Dean R. (2017). "A new leptonectid ichthyosaur from the Lower Jurassic (Hettangian) of Nottinghamshire, England, UK, and the taxonomic usefulness of the ichthyosaurian coracoid". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 15 (5): 1–15. doi:10.1080/14772019.2016.1183149. S2CID 88578965.
  2. Lomax, Dean R.; Evans, Mark & Carpenter, Simon (2019). "An ichthyosaur from the UK Triassic-Jurassic boundary: A second specimen of the leptonectid ichthyosaur Wahlisaurus massarae Lomax 2016". Geological Journal. 54 (1): 83–90. doi:10.1002/gj.3155.
  3. "Wahlisaurus massarae: Forgotten Fossil is New Species of Ancient Dolphin-Like Reptile". SciNews. 14 June 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  4. "Rare ichthyosaur is only second known example". Phys.org. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2021.


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