Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T12:32:29.924Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cymbospondylus (Shastasauridae: Ichthyosauria) from the Middle Triassic of Spitsbergen: filling a paleobiogeographic gap

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

P. Martin Sander*
Affiliation:
Institute of Paleontology, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, D-5300 Bonn 1, West Germany

Abstract

The occurrence of the large ichthyosaur Cymbospondylus in the Middle Triassic of Spitsbergen is recognized based on two different specimens. One consists of a semiarticulated string of 17 dorsal vertebrae with associated ribs and the other of an anterior dorsal vertebral centrum and possibly a caudal vertebral centrum. Both specimens can only be identified as Cymbospondylus sp. This record fills a gap in the distribution of Cymbospondylus, establishing this genus as the second most widespread Triassic ichthyosaur after Mixosaurus.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blainville, H. M. D. de 1835. Description de quelces especes de reptiles de la Califonie. Nouvelles annales du Muséum National d'histoire naturelle, 4:233296.Google Scholar
Bürgin, T., Rieppel, O., Sander, P. M., and Tschanz, K. 1989. The fossils of Monte San Giorgio. Scientific American, 260 (June):7481.Google Scholar
Callaway, J. M., and Brinkman, D. B. 1989. Ichthyosaurs (Reptilia, Ichhyosauria) from the Lower and Middle Triassic Sulphur Mountain Formation, Wapiti Lake area, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Science, 26:14911500.Google Scholar
Callaway, J. M., and Massare, J. A. 1989. Geographic and stratigraphic distribution of the Triassic Ichthyosauria (Reptilia; Diapsida). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, 178:3758.Google Scholar
Cox, C. B., and Smith, D. G. 1973. A review of the Triassic vertebrate faunas of Svalbard. Geological Magazine, 110:405418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huene, F. v. 1916. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Ichthyosaurier im deutschen Muschelkalk. Palaeontographica, Abt. A, 62:168.Google Scholar
Huene, F. v. 1936. Ichthyosaurierreste aus Timor. Zentralblatt für Mineralogie etc., Abt. B, Jahrgang 1936:327334.Google Scholar
Huene, F. v. 1951. Eine neue Ichthyosaurier-Gattung der mittleren Trias. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, 94:8092.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1868. Notice of some reptilian remains from Nevada. Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, 20:177178.Google Scholar
Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae 10th ed., Vol. 1. Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm, 824 p.Google Scholar
Massare, J. A., and Callaway, J. M., 1990. The affinities and ecology of Triassic ichthyosaurs. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 102:409416.Google Scholar
Mazin, J.-M. 1983. Omphalosaurus nisseri (Wiman, 1910), unichthyoptérygien a denture broyeuse du Trias moyen du Spitsberg. Bulletin du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Series 4, Vol. 5, Section C:243263.Google Scholar
Mazin, J.-M. 1984. Les Ichthyopterygia du Trias du Spitsberg. Descriptions complémentaires a partir d'un nouveau matérial. Bulletin du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Series 4, Vol. 6, Section C:309320.Google Scholar
Mazin, J.-M. 1986. Paleobiogeography of Triassic ichthyopterygian reptiles; some working hypotheses. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, 173:117129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGowan, C. 1978. Further evidence for the wide geographical distribution of ichthyosaur taxa (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria). Journal of Paleontology, 52:11551162.Google Scholar
Merriam, J. C. 1902. Triassic Ichthyopterygia from California and Nevada. University of California Publications, Bulletin of the Department of Geology, 3:63108.Google Scholar
Merriam, J. C. 1908. Triassic Ichthyosauria with special reference to the American forms. Memoirs of the University of California, 1:1196.Google Scholar
Osborn, H. F. 1903. The reptilian subclasses Diapsida and Synapsida and the early history of the Diaptosauria. Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, 1:449507.Google Scholar
Sander, P. M. 1989. The large ichthyosaur Cymbospondylus buchseri, sp. nov., from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland), with a survey of the genus in Europe. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 9:163173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sander, P. M., and Bucher, H. 1990. On the presence of Mixosaurus (Ichthyopterygia: Reptilia) in the Middle Triassic of Nevada. Journal of Paleontology, 64:161164.Google Scholar
Wiman, C. 1910. Ichthyosaurier aus der Trias Spitzbergens. Bulletin of the Geological Institution of the University of Upsala, 10:124148.Google Scholar