Futabasaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
Reconstructed skeleton at National Science Museum, Tokyo
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: †Sauropterygia
Order: †Plesiosauria
Family: †Elasmosauridae
Genus: †Futabasaurus
Sato, Hasegawa & Manabe, 2006
Species:
†F. suzukii
Binomial name
†Futabasaurus suzukii
Sato, Hasegawa & Manabe, 2006

Futabasaurus is a genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Fukushima, Japan. It was described and named in 2006, and was assigned to the family Elasmosauridae. The genus contains one species, F. suzukii.

Description

Life restoration

The size of Futabasaurus has been estimated within the range of 6.4–9.2 metres (21–30 ft) in length.[1] It can be distinguished from other elasmosaurids by the following characteristics: there is a long distance between the eye sockets and nostrils; the interclavicles and clavicles are fused, and the anterior edge is bent; the humerus is relatively long; and the femora are slim and show prominent muscle scars.[2]

Discovery and naming

Cast of fossils of Futabasaurus suzukii exhibited at the National Museum of Nature and Science

Futabasaurus is the first elasmosaurid found in Japan. It was originally known as either "Wellesisaurus sudzuki" or "Futaba-ryu" before publication. The type specimen of Futabasaurus was found in the Irimazawa Member of the Tamayama Formation, in the Futaba Group of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The rocks in which it were found date to the Inoceramus amakusensis zone of the early Santonian. The fossils were found by Tadashi Suzuki, then a high school student.[2] Many of the bones of the type specimen show signs of apparent scavenging or predation by sharks.[2]

The genus Futabasaurus was named after the Futaba Group, in which it was discovered; the species name is derived from the family name of its discoverer, Suzuki.[2]

The name "Futabasaurus" has also been used for an unrelated theropod dinosaur, from the Late Cretaceous Ashizawa Formation of Japan. However, this dinosaur was not officially named, and remains a nomen nudum.[3]

Classification

Pre-2006 skeletal mount which is informally labelled as "Wellesisaurus sudzuki" (with a large stone containing crinoids and ammonites in the background)

The following cladogram shows the placement of Futabasaurus within Elasmosauridae following an analysis by Rodrigo A. Otero, 2016:[4]

Fossils
Elasmosauridae

Eromangasaurus carinognathus

Callawayasaurus colombiensis

Libonectes morgani

Tuarangisaurus keyesi

Thalassomedon haningtoni

CM Zfr 115

Hydrotherosaurus alexandrae

Futabasaurus suzukii

Aristonectinae

Kaiwhekea katiki

Alexandronectes zealandiensis

Morturneria seymourensis

Aristonectes parvidens

Aristonectes quiriquinensis

Elasmosaurinae

Terminonatator pointeixensis

Elasmosaurus platyurus

Albertonectes vanderveldei

Styxosaurus sp. (="Hydralmosaurus serpentinus")

Styxosaurus snowii

Styxosaurus browni

See also

References

  1. ↑ O'Gorman, J.P. (2016). "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. 53 (3): 245–268. doi:10.5710/AMGH.29.11.2015.2928. S2CID 133139689.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sato, Tamaki; Hasegawa, Yoshikazu; Manabe, Makoto (2006). "A new elasmosaurid plesiosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Fukushima, Japan". Palaeontology. 49 (3): 467–484. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00554.x.
  3. ↑ Mortimer, Michael (2008). "Neotheropoda". The Theropod Database. Archived from the original on 2013-09-29. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  4. ↑ Otero, R. A. (2016). "Taxonomic reassessment of Hydralmosaurus as Styxosaurus: new insights on the elasmosaurid neck evolution throughout the Cretaceous". PeerJ. 4: e1777. doi:10.7717/peerj.1777. PMC 4806632. PMID 27019781.
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