Halizavr ( lat. Halisaurus ) is a genus of extinct sea lizards from the Mosasaur family that lived during the Upper Cretaceous ( 86.3-66.0 million years ago) [1] .
| † Halizavr | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Skeleton Halisaurus arambourgi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| International scientific name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Halisaurus Marsh , 1869 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Geochronology 86.3—66.0 Ma
◄ Nowadays◄ Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction◄ Triassic extinction◄ Perm mass extinction◄ Devonian extinction◄ Ordovician-Silurian extinction◄ Cambrian explosion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The genus was isolated by Otniele Charles Marsh in 1869. For the first time, fossils belonging to the genus were found in the state of New Jersey ( USA ). Subsequently, they are found around the world, including more complete skeletons.
The lizards reached a length of 3-4 meters.
Content
Systematics
The exact position of halizavr in the Mosasaur lineage is considered controversial. The similarity with both the platycarp and the clidast is problematic, since these genera are classified into separate subfamilies.
According to the Fossilworks website, as of September 2017, the genus includes 4 extinct species [2] :
- Halisaurus arambourgi Bardet et al. 2005
- Halisaurus onchognathus (Merriam, 1894) [ syn. Baptosaurus onchognathus Merriam, 1894 ]
- Halisaurus platyspondylus (Marsh, 1869) typus [syn. Baptosaurus onchognathus Marsh, 1869 ]
- Halisaurus sternbergi (Wiman, 1920) [syn. Clidastes sternbergi Wiman, 1920 , Eonatator sternbergii (Wiman, 1920) ]
The view of Halisaurus onchognathus , known from the Campanian or Santonian sediments that were once part of the Western Inner Sea , is considered doubtful because all of its remnants were lost during World War II .
Halisaurus platyspondylus
The type species Halisaurus platyspondylus is described by Otniel Charles Marsh in 1869. The species name means flat vertebra. The remains were found in New Jersey and in Maryland [3] , that is, lived on the coasts of North America .
It has wide rounded nostrils and the absence of some vertebrae [3] .
Halisaurus arambourgi
The view Halisaurus arambourgi is named after Professor Aramburg.
Halisaurus arambourgi fossils retain several features that distinguish it from Halisaurus platyspondylus : the structure of the nostrils (V-shaped in front and U-shaped in the back) and the number of teeth - 20, which is 3 more than that of Halisaurus platyspondylus [3] .
Samples are found in North Africa and the Middle East .
Notes
- ↑ Halisaurus (English) information on the Paleobiology Database . (Checked October 19, 2017) .
- ↑ † Halisaurus (English) information on the Fossilworks website. (Checked October 19, 2017) .
- 2 1 2 3 Bardet N., Pereda Suberbiola X., Iarochene M., Bouya B. & Amaghzaz M. 2005. Squamata: Mosasauridae ). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 143 : 447-472.