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Paleontologists state they’ve recognized a brand-new types of marine reptile in the ophthalmosaurid genus Platypterygius that lived roughly 125 million years back. 19659002 19459021 19459026 A set of 19459023 Platypterigius sp. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov/ CC BY 3.0. Ophthalmosauridae are a household of ichthyosaurs that lived throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous durations. 19659004 These ichthyosaurs appeared around the world throughout the Early Bajocian, around 170 million years earlier, subsequent to the disappearance of the majority of other ichthyosaur family trees after completion of the Toarcian, 174 million years earlier. 19659005 2 ophthalmosaurida family trees are understood; one consists of 2 genera: Aegirosaurus and Ophthalmosaurus , and the other consists of 3 genera: 19459023 Brachypterygius 19459024, 19459023 Caypullisaurus and 19459023 Platypterygius 19459024 19659006 The newly-identified types, 19459023 Platypterygius elsuntuoso 19459024, comes from the latter genus. 19659007 This marine reptile swam in the Early Barremian seas, around 125 million years back. 19659008 “The morphology of the brand-new specimen accepts the diagnostic functions of Platypterygius 19459024, supporting its addition in this genus,” stated lead author Dr. María Páramo-Fonseca and her coworkers from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and the Museo Geológico Nacional José Royo y Gómez. “The distinctions kept in mind in between the specimen and all other Platypterygius types, support the erection of a brand-new types, Platypterygius elsuntuoso ” 19459023 Platypterygius elsuntuoso , holotype. Scale bars– 10 cm. Image credit: Páramo-Fonseca 19459023 et al , doi: 10.15446/ esrj.v28n2.112332. 19659010 The fossilized remains of a juvenile or subadult 19459023 Platypterygius elsuntuoso were gathered in 1999 by scientists from the Fundación Colombiana de Geobiología. The specimen includes a nearly total skull, some axial aspects consisting of the atlasaxis and a couple of cervical vertebrae, the left coracoid, and a couple of phalanges. 19659012 “The specimen was discovered in a concretion in La Cabrera hill, northwest of Villa de Leiva (Boyacá, Colombia) where the Arcillolitas abigarradas Member of the Paja Formation outcrops,” the paleontologists stated. 19659013 “Its specific geographical provenance is unidentified, so it was not possible to identify its exact stratigraphic position.” 19659014 “However, many ammonoid specimens were drawn out from the very same concretion and a few of them have actually been preliminarily recognized as Acanthoptychoceras ” 19659015 The scientists performed the morphological contrasts of 19459023 Platypterygius elsuntuoso with the Cretaceous and Late Jurassic ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs. 19659016 They likewise modified the genus Platypterygius 19459024 based upon released descriptions and direct observations on the Colombian product. 19659017 “We concluded that 19459023 Platypterygius 19459024 is a genus differentiated by a particular forelimb structure and a specific mix of skull functions,” they stated. “We emended its medical diagnosis and acknowledged as legitimate the Barremian to decrease Cenomanian types: 19459023 Platypterygius platydactylus , Platypterygius americanus 19459024, Platypterygius australis 19459024, 19459023 Platypterygius hercynicus , 19459023 Platypterygius sachicarum 19459024, 19459023 Platypterygius birjukovi 19459024 and the brand-new types Platypterygius elsuntuoso 19459024” 19659019 “Thus, 19459023 Platypterygius was a cosmopolitan genus that diversified as it dominated the waters of the Early to early Late Cretaceous oceans and seas.” 19659020 The discovery of 19459023 Platypterygius elsuntuoso is reported in a paper in the 19459023 Earth Sciences Research Journal 19459024 19659021 _____ María E. Páramo-Fonseca et al 2024. A brand-new types of 19459023 Platypterygius (Ophthalmosauridae) from the lower Barremian of Colombia and evaluation of the types structure of the genus. 19459023 Earth Sci. Res. J 19459024 28 (2 ): 103-126; doi: 10.15446/ esrj.v28n2.112332 19659023 Find out more 19459036