Actiosaurus Explained

Actiosaurus (meaning "coast lizard") is an extinct genus of reptile first described by Henri Sauvage in 1883^[1] from Antully bonebed, Autun (Triassic of France). The type species is A. gaudryi (commonly misspelled A. gaudrii after Boulenger^[2]). Little is known of it, and it is considered a nomen dubium. Actiosaurus was originally described as a dinosaur in 1883 and was reinterpreted as an ichthyosaur in 1908. Actiosaurus may instead represent the remains of a choristodere.^[3] Fischer et al. (2014) considered A. gaudryi to be a species inquirenda, and noted the similarity of its bones to the limb bones of choristoderes.^[4]

See also

• Rachitrema
• List of ichthyosaurs
• Timeline of ichthyosaur research

External links

• Actiosaurus is a choristodere not an ichthyosaur.

Notes and References

1. Sauvage, H. (1883). "Recherches sur les reptiles trouves dans l'etage Rhetien des environs d'Autun". Annales des Sciences Geologiques 14 (6, Article 3) : 1–44.
2. Boulenger, G. A. (1883). Page 6 in "Reptilia and Batrachia". Rye, E. C. (ed.). The Zoological Record for 1883. Record of Zoological Literature 20.
3. Web site: Actiosaurus is a choristodere not an ichthyosaur . Mortimer . M. . 13 June 2010 . The Theropod Database Blog . 12 January 2013.
4. Valentin Fischer . Henri Cappetta . Peggy Vincent . Géraldine Garcia . Stijn Goolaerts . Jeremy E. Martin . Daniel Roggero . Xavier Valentin . 2014 . Ichthyosaurs from the French Rhaetian indicate a severe turnover across the Triassic–Jurassic boundary . Naturwissenschaften . 101. 12 . 1027–1040. 10.1007/s00114-014-1242-7 . 25256640. 2014NW....101.1027F . 2268/172355 . 619439 .