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Baptanodon
Extinct genus of reptiles From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Baptanodon is an ichthyosaur of the Late Jurassic period (160-156 million years ago), named for its supposed lack of teeth (although teeth of this genus have since been discovered).[1] It had a graceful 3.5 m (11 ft) long dolphin-shaped body, and its jaws were well adapted for catching squid.[2] Major fossil finds of this genus have been recorded in North America. The type species, Sauranodon natans, was originally included under Sauranodon in 1879,[3] but this name was preoccupied.
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Discovery and species
Baptanodon is a replacement name for Sauranodon applied to ichthyosaur material in 1879[3] and was moved to its own genus Baptanodon in 1880 when Sauranodon was found to be preoccupied.[4] Baptanodon was considered a junior synonym of Ophthalmosaurus by Maisch & Matzke (2000).[5] However, cladistic analyses published in the 2010s indicate that Baptanodon is not congeneric with Ophthalmosaurus icenicus.[6][7][8]
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Classification
The cladogram below follows Fischer et al. 2012.[7]
| Thunnosauria |
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Palaeobiology
Fossils of Baptanodon have been found in the Oxfordian-age Sundance Formation of Wyoming, which also has yielded fossils of the cryptoclidids Tatenectes and Pantosaurus, and the pliosaurid Megalneusaurus.[4][10]
See also
References
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