Sikannisuchus is an extinct genus of large archosaur from upper Triassic (Norian stage) deposits of northeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is known from the holotype, TMP 94.382.3, a posterior portion of skull roof and from other fragmentary remains. It was found from four localities of the Pardonet Formation, near the community of Sikanni Chief. It was first named by Elizabeth L. Nicholls, Donald B. Brinkman, and Xiao-Chun Wu in 1998 and the type species is Sikannisuchus huskyi. It would have reached about 4 metres (13 ft) in length.[1] Ichthyosaurs such as Macgowania, Callawayia and possibly the giant shastasaurid Shonisaurus, coelacanths Whiteia banffensis and possibly Garnbergia, and various genera of molluscs including ammonites and bivalves have also been found in the Pardonet Formation.[2][3]

Sikannisuchus
Temporal range: Upper Triassic, Norian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Clade: Archosauriformes
Clade: Archosauria
Genus: Sikannisuchus
Nicholls, Brinkman & Wu, 1998
Species
  • S. huskyi Nicholls, Brinkman & Wu, 1998 (type)

References

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  1. ^ Elizabeth L. Nicholls; Donald B. Brinkman; Xiao-Chun Wu (1998). "A new archosaur from the Upper Triassic Pardonet Formation of British Columbia". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 35 (10): 1134–1142. Bibcode:1998CaJES..35.1134N. doi:10.1139/e98-065.
  2. ^ Nicholls, Elizabeth L.; Manabe, Makoto (2004). "Giant Ichthyosaurs of the Triassic—A New Species of Shonisaurus from the Pardonet Formation (Norian: Late Triassic) of British Columbia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (4): 838–849. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0838:GIOTTN]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272-4634.
  3. ^ Yabumoto, Y.; Neuman, A. (2004). "A Coelacanth Scale from the Upper Triassic Pardonet Formation, British Columbia, Canada". Paleontological Research. 8 (4): 337–340. doi:10.2517/prpsj.8.337.