Wapitisaurus

<i>Wapitisaurus</i>

Wapitisaurus

Extinct genus of marine reptiles

Wapitisaurus is an extinct genus of thalattosaur from the Early Triassic. Its type and only species is Wapitisaurus problematicus. Its remains were discovered in the Vega-Phroso Member of the Sulphur Mountain Formation in British Columbia, Canada.[1]

Quick Facts Scientific classification, Type species ...

Wapitisaurus was originally described as a member of Weigeltisauridae, a family of gliding reptiles that otherwise is only known from the Permian period.[1] However, subsequent study determined it was a member of Thalattosauria, a group of unusual marine reptiles that lived during the Triassic period.[2] The length of Wapitisaurus has been estimated to be between 1 and 1.9 metres (3.3 and 6.2 ft), similar to other thalattosaurs.[2]

References

  1. [1]
    Brinkman, Donald (1988). "A weigeltisaurid reptile from the Lower Triassic of British Columbia". Palaeontology. 31 (4): 951–955. ISSN 0031-0239.
  2. [2]
    Bastiaans, Dylan; Buffa, Valentin; Scheyer, Torsten M. (2023-11-15). "To glide or to swim? A reinvestigation of the enigmatic Wapitisaurus problematicus (Reptilia) from the Early Triassic of British Columbia, Canada". Royal Society Open Science. 10 (11): 231171. doi:10.1098/rsos.231171. ISSN 2054-5703. PMC 10646446.


This article about a prehistoric reptile is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Wapitisaurus, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.