''Pervushovisaurus'' is a genus of platypterygiine ichthyosaur from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

( Cenomanian) of the Saratov region in western

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, the

La Penthiève Beds The La Penthiève Beds is a geologic formation in France. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period. Paleofauna *Crocodylia indet. *''Dakosaurus'' sp. *'' Erectopus superbus'' *''Hylaeosaurus'' sp. *'' Pervushovisaurus campylodon ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and the

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

area of the UK.

History

It was originally described as a subgenus of ''

Platypterygius ''Platypterygius'' is a historically paraphyletic genus of platypterygiine ichthyosaur from the Cretaceous period. It was historically used as a wastebasket taxon, and most species within ''Platypterygius'' likely are undiagnostic at the genus ...

'', but later work showed that it was sufficiently distinct from the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

of ''Platypterygius'', ''P. platydactylus'', to be elevated to full generic rank. The type species of ''Pervushovisaurus'', ''P. bannovkensis'', is known only from the holotype, SSU 104a/24, a partial skull. In 2016, an additional species of ''Platypterygius'' from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

, ''P. campylodon'', was also referred to ''Pervushovisaurus'' after previously being allied with ''

Ichthyosaurus ''Ichthyosaurus'' (derived from Greek ' () meaning 'fish' and ' () meaning 'lizard') is a genus of ichthyosaurs from the Early Jurassic (Hettangian - Pliensbachian), with possible Late Triassic record, from Europe ( Belgium, England, Germany, ...

'' in 1846. A previous Russian species of ''Platypterygius'', ''"P." kiprianoffi'', was also assigned to ''P. campylodon''. A specimen of ''P. campylodon'' was found in the

and was described in 1882 by Henri Émile Sauvage.Sauvage, H.-É., (1882), "Recherches sur les reptiles trouvés dans le Gault de l'est du bassin de Paris", ''Mémoires de la Société Géologique de France, série 3'' 2(4): 1-42

Description

''Pervushovisaurus'' was a medium-sized ichthyosaur measuring long. Fishcer (2016) gave the emended diagnosis of ''Pervushovisaurus'' as follows, based on that of Fischer et al. (2014): "Platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid characterized by the following autapomorphies .. presence of foramina along the ventral premaxillary–maxillary suture; presence of a semi-oval foramen on the lateral surface of the premaxilla, anteroventral to the external naris; presence of lateral ridges on the maxilla; presence of wide supranarial ‘wing’ of the nasal (a similar structure, although much smaller, is present in ‘Platypterygius’ ''australis'' and '' Acamptonectes densus'') (see Kear, 2005; Fischer et al., 2012, respectively); robust splenial markedly protruding from the external surface of the mandible; root with quadrangular cross-section, with the cementum forming prominent 90° angles. ''Pervushovisaurus'' is also characterized by the following unique combination of features: secondarily closed naris surrounded by foramina (as in ‘Platypterygius’ ''sachicarum'' and ‘Platypterygius’ ''australis'' (see Paramo, 1997; Kear, 2005, respectively), and in '' Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi'', although the ‘anterior’ naris is still present in this taxon (Maisch & Matzke, 2000; Fischer et al., 2014a)); elongated anterior process of the maxilla, reaching anteriorly the level of the nasal (unlike in '' Aegirosaurus leptospondylus'', '' Sveltonectes insolitus'' and '' Muiscasaurus catheti'') (Bardet & Fernández, 2000; Fischer et al., 2011a; Maxwell et al., 2015, respectively); rostrum straight (unlike in ‘Platypterygius’ ''americanus'', ‘Platypterygius’ ''sachicarum'', ‘Platypterygius’ ''australis'' and possibly ''Muiscasaurus catheti'', where it is slightly curved anteroventrally Romer, 1968; Paramo, 1997; Kear, 2005; Maxwell et al., 2015, respectively); straight, non-recurved tooth crowns (unlike in ''Sveltonectes insolitus'', ''Muiscasaurus catheti'') (Fischer et al., 2011a; Maxwell et al., 2015, respectively)."

References

External links

* http://palaeos.com/vertebrates/ichthyosauria/ophthalmosauria.html ''Pervushovisaurus'' at Palaeos {{Taxonbar, from=Q15686557 Late Cretaceous ichthyosaurs Extinct animals of Russia Ichthyosauromorph genera