Caypullisaurus Explained

Caypullisaurus is an extinct genus of platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous (Tithonian and Berriasian stages) of Argentina. Its holotype was collected from the Vaca Muerta Formation of Cerro Lotena, Neuquen, dating to the early Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic, about 150 million years ago. Caypullisaurus was first named by Marta Fernández in 1997 and the type species is Caypullisaurus bonapartei. It was a large ichthyosaur, measuring about long.^{[1] [2]}

Classification

It is a member of the family Ophthalmosauridae, and closely related to Platypterygius and Brachypterygius.^[3] In 2012, Caypullisaurus was found to be most closely related to Athabascasaurus and "Platypterygius" australis, and to nest within the subfamily Platypterygiinae.^[4]

Phylogeny

The following cladogram shows a possible phylogenetic position of Caypullisaurus in Ophthalmosauridae according to the analysis performed by Zverkov and Jacobs (2020).^[5]

See also

• List of ichthyosaurs
• Timeline of ichthyosaur research

Notes and References

1. M.S.. Fernández. 1997. A new Ichthyosaur from the Tithonian (Late Jurassic) of the Neuquen Basin, Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Paleontology. 71. 3. 479–484. 10.1017/S0022336000039494. 1997JPal...71..479F .
2. Gasparini. Z.. Fernández. M.. 2005. Jurassic marine reptiles of the Neuquén Basin: records, faunas and their palaeobiogeographic significance. Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 252. 1. 279–294. 10.1144/GSL.SP.2005.252.01.14. 2005GSLSP.252..279G .
3. Fernández M. 2007. Redescription and phylogenetic position of Caypullisaurus (Ichthyosauria: Ophthalmosauridae). Journal of Paleontology 81 (2): 368-375.
4. Valentin Fischer . Michael W. Maisch . Darren Naish . Ralf Kosma . Jeff Liston . Ulrich Joger . Fritz J. Krüger . Judith Pardo Pérez . Jessica Tainsh . Robert M. Appleby . 2012 . New Ophthalmosaurid Ichthyosaurs from the European Lower Cretaceous Demonstrate Extensive Ichthyosaur Survival across the Jurassic–Cretaceous Boundary . PLOS ONE . 7 . 1 . e29234 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0029234 . 22235274 . 3250416. 2012PLoSO...729234F . free .
5. Nikolay G. Zverkov . Megan L. Jacobs . amp . 2020 . Revision of Nannopterygius (Ichthyosauria: Ophthalmosauridae): reappraisal of the 'inaccessible' holotype resolves a taxonomic tangle and reveals an obscure ophthalmosaurid lineage with a wide distribution . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 191 . 1 . 2021 . 228–275 . 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa028.