Actiosaurus (meaning "coast lizard") is an extinct genus of reptile first described by Henri Sauvage in 1883[1] from Antully bonebed, Autun (Triassic of France). The type species is A. gaudryi (commonly misspelled A. gaudrii after Boulenger[2]). Little is known of it, and it is considered a nomen dubium. Actiosaurus was originally described as a dinosaur in 1883 and was reinterpreted as an ichthyosaur in 1908. Actiosaurus may instead represent the remains of a choristodere.[3] Fischer et al. (2014) considered A. gaudryi to be a species inquirenda, and noted the similarity of its bones to the limb bones of choristoderes.[4]

Actiosaurus
Temporal range: Late Triassic, Rhaetian
Actiosaurus gaudryi humerus (anterior view), Sauvage (1883).
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Genus: Actiosaurus
Sauvage, 1883
Species:
A. gaudryi
Binomial name
Actiosaurus gaudryi
Sauvage, 1883

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Sauvage, H. (1883). "Recherches sur les reptiles trouves dans l'etage Rhetien des environs d'Autun". Annales des Sciences Geologiques 14 (6, Article 3) : 1–44.
  2. ^ Boulenger, G. A. (1883). Page 6 in "Reptilia and Batrachia". Rye, E. C. (ed.). The Zoological Record for 1883. Record of Zoological Literature 20.
  3. ^ Mortimer, M. (13 June 2010). "Actiosaurus is a choristodere not an ichthyosaur". The Theropod Database Blog. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
  4. ^ Valentin Fischer; Henri Cappetta; Peggy Vincent; Géraldine Garcia; Stijn Goolaerts; Jeremy E. Martin; Daniel Roggero; Xavier Valentin (2014). "Ichthyosaurs from the French Rhaetian indicate a severe turnover across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary". Naturwissenschaften. 101 (12): 1027–1040. Bibcode:2014NW....101.1027F. doi:10.1007/s00114-014-1242-7. hdl:2268/172355. PMID 25256640. S2CID 619439.
edit