遠古龍屬
遠古龍屬 化石時期:晚白堊世,
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凱氏遠古龍的復原圖 | |
科學分類 | |
界: | 動物界 Animalia |
門: | 脊索動物門 Chordata |
綱: | 爬蟲綱 Reptilia |
目: | †蛇頸龍目 Plesiosauria |
科: | †薄板龍科 Elasmosauridae |
屬: | †遠古龍屬 Tuarangisaurus Wiffen & Moisley, 1986 |
模式種 | |
†凱氏遠古龍 Tuarangisaurus keyesi Wiffen & Moisley, 1986
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遠古龍(學名:Tuarangisaurus,毛利語:tuarangi[古代的] + 希臘語:σαῦρος,羅馬化:sauros[蜥蜴])是薄板龍科已滅絕的一個屬,化石發現於新西蘭。模式種兼唯一已知物種是凱氏遠古龍(Tuarangisaurus keyesi),由威芬和莫伊斯利於1986年命名。[1][2]
發現
[編輯]已知化石包括正模標本NZGS CD425,含有幾乎完整的顱骨及下頜骨——及NZGS CD426,含前九節頸椎。一些幼龍顱後遺骸亦歸入遠古龍,其中一件標本(NZGS CD427)含有至少30顆胃石。[1]其收集於塔霍拉組曼加塔尼瓦砂岩段(Maungataniwha Sandstone Member),時間為晚白堊世坎帕階晚期至馬斯特里赫特階早期。[2]
第二個種澳洲遠古龍(T. australis)於2005年命名,[3]但於2007年移入新屬伊羅曼加龍,成為嵴頜伊羅曼加龍(E. carinognathus)的首異名。[4]第三個種卡氏遠古龍(T.? cabazai)在原始描述中亦歸入本屬,[1]但近期被重新歸為分類不明的極泳龍亞科。[5]
2017年,一件原屬毛伊龍的完整標本(CM Zfr 115)被重新歸入該屬,[6]2018年,奧特羅等人報告了一具幼龍標本,表明了這種蛇頸龍的個體發育。該標本具有很多與正模標本相同的特徵,但上頜骨方向及牙齒數目存在差異。[7]
描述
[編輯]遠古龍是種中型蛇頸龍,完整標本(CM Zfr 115)長度測為超過8公尺(26英尺)。[8]顱骨保存部分長度測為37.0公分(1英尺2.6英寸)左右,完整長度估計為37.5公分(1英尺2.8英寸)。[1]該屬可根據一個獨特的特徵組合及兩項此前未知的特徵,與所有其它薄板龍科區分開來:外翼骨有一個朝向背側的細長突起,下側有一大型骨質突起。正模標本中存在一個鐙骨,此前認為薄板龍科不具有這種骨骼。[2][9]
分類
[編輯]遠古龍最初被歸入薄板龍科,[1]一項研究發現其為卡拉瓦亞龍的近親。[10]奧戈曼等人2016年的系統發育分析再次確認其屬於薄板龍科,但否認其與卡拉瓦亞龍近緣。根據分析,該屬在薄板龍科中的位置如下。[2]
薄板龍科 Elasmosauridae |
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參見
[編輯]參考資料
[編輯]- ^ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Wiffen, J.; Moisley, W.L. Late Cretaceous reptiles (Families Elasmosauridae and Pliosauridae) from the Mangahouanga Stream, North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 1986, 29 (2): 205–252. Bibcode:1986NZJGG..29..205W. doi:10.1080/00288306.1986.10427535.
- ^ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 O'Gorman, J.P.; Otero, R.A.; Hiller, N.; Simes, J.; Terezow, M. Redescription of Tuarangisaurus keyesi (Sauropterygia; Elasmosauridae), a key species from the uppermost Cretaceous of the Weddellian Province: Internal skull anatomy and phylogenetic position. Cretaceous Research. 2016, 71: 118–136. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2016.11.014.
- ^ Sachs, S. Tuarangisaurus australis sp. nov. (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of northeastern Queensland, with additional notes on the phylogeny of the Elasmosauridae (PDF). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 2005, 50 (2): 425–440. (原始內容 (PDF)存檔於2011-09-28).
- ^ Benjamin P. Kear. Taxonomic clarification of the Australian elasmosaurid genus Eromangasaurus, with reference to other austral elasmosaur taxa. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 2007, 27 (1): 241–246. S2CID 86673814. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[241:TCOTAE]2.0.CO;2.
- ^ O'Gorman, J.P.; Gasparini, Z.; Salgado, L. Reappraisal of Tuarangisaurus? cabazai (Elasmosauridae, Plesiosauria) from the Upper Maastrichtian of northern Patagonia, Argentina. Cretaceous Research. 2014, 47: 39–47. Bibcode:2014CrRes..47...39O. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2013.10.003. hdl:11336/37287 .
- ^ Hiller, Norton; O'Gorman, José P.; Otero, Rodrigo A.; Mannering, Al A. A reappraisal of the Late Cretaceous Weddellian plesiosaur genus Mauisaurus Hector, 1874. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 2017, 60 (2): 112–128. Bibcode:2017NZJGG..60..112H. S2CID 132037930. doi:10.1080/00288306.2017.1281317.
- ^ Otero, R.A.; O'Gorman, J.P.; Moisley, W.L.; Terezow, M.; Mckee, J. A juvenile Tuarangisaurus keyesi Wiffen and Moisley, 1986 (Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of New Zealand, with Remarks on Its Skull Ontogeny. Cretaceous Research. 2018, 85: 214–231. Bibcode:2018CrRes..85..214O. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2017.09.007. hdl:11336/99631 .
- ^ O'Gorman, J.P. A Small Body Sized Non-Aristonectine Elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia with Comments on the Relationships of the Patagonian and Antarctic Elasmosaurids. Ameghiniana. 2016, 53 (3): 245–268. S2CID 133139689. doi:10.5710/AMGH.29.11.2015.2928.
- ^ Carpenter, K. Revision of North American elasmosaurs from the Cretaceous of the western interior. Paludicola. 1999, 2: 148–173.
- ^ Kubo, T.; Mitchell, M.T.; Henderson, D.M. Albertonectes vanderveldei, a new elasmosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 2012, 32 (3): 557–572. Bibcode:2012JVPal..32..557K. S2CID 129500470. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.658124.