Animalia > Chordata > Californosauridae > Californosaurus

Californosaurus

Wikipedia Abstract

Californosaurus perrini ('Perrin's California lizard') was an ichthyosaur, an extinct reptile, from the Lower Hosselkus Limestone (Carnian, Late Triassic) of California. It has also been known as Shastasaurus perrini and Delphinosaurus ('dolphin lizard') perrini. It is the basal-most known true ichthyosaur (Euichthyosauria). The long-snouted head is small in comparison with the rest of the body, as in basal ichthyosaurs such as Mixosaurus and Cymbospondylus. The tail is sharply turned downwards, in common with more advanced ichthyosaurs, with a small vertical fluke. It may have had a small dorsal fin. There is a small number of pre-sacral vertebrae (45 or 50). The phalanges (digit bones) are circular and widely spaced, giving the flipper a round appearance. It was three metres long. It fed
View Wikipedia Record: Californosaurus

Species

External References

Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0