Shastasauridae

Shastasauridae is an extinct family of ichthyosaurs from the Late Triassic with a possible Early Jurassic record. The family contains the largest known species of ichthyosaurs, which include some of and possibly the largest known marine reptiles.

Shastasauridae

LegendZ3 · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
MerriamosauriaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Ichthyopterygia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Environment
marinePBDB, for Ichthyosauria

Time the record covers

At least 35 million years on record.

The record covers at least 237 Mya to 201.4 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 251.902 Mya to 199.5 Mya.

Permian — about 0 of 40 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 0 of 40 occurrencesEarly TriassicMiddle Triassic — about 3 of 40 occurrencesMiddle TriassicLate Triassic — about 35 of 40 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 1 of 40 occurrences253–251 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences251–249 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences249–248 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences248–246 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences246–244 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences244–242 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences242–240 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences240–238 Mya — about 1 occurrence238–237 Mya — about 2 occurrences237–235 Mya — about 2 occurrences235–233 Mya — about 2 occurrences233–231 Mya — about 3 occurrences231–229 Mya — about 3 occurrences229–228 Mya — about 3 occurrences228–226 Mya — about 1 occurrence226–224 Mya — about 1 occurrence224–222 Mya — about 1 occurrence222–220 Mya — about 1 occurrence220–218 Mya — about 2 occurrences218–217 Mya — about 1 occurrence217–215 Mya — about 1 occurrence215–213 Mya — about 1 occurrence213–211 Mya — about 1 occurrence211–209 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences209–208 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences208–206 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences206–204 Mya — about 4 occurrences204–202 Mya — about 4 occurrences202–200 Mya — about 2 occurrences200–198 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences237 Mya201.4 Mya253 Mya198 Mya

40 occurrences of Shastasauridae on record, most of them in the Late Triassic. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

40 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

16 formations

Xiaowa — 25.90°N, 105.42°EXiaowa — 25.87°N, 105.62°EPardonet — 57.26°N, 123.02°WPardonet — 57.30°N, 123.23°WPardonet — 57.31°N, 123.15°WHosselkus — 40.94°N, 122.12°WHosselkus — 40.41°N, 122.55°WHosselkus — 40.82°N, 122.05°WHosselkus — 40.72°N, 122.26°WLuning — 38.88°N, 117.59°WFalang — 25.16°N, 104.79°EWayao — 25.82°N, 105.20°EAntimonio — 30.75°N, 112.60°WAntimonio — 30.73°N, 112.60°WDurrenstein — 46.53°N, 12.13°EGrès de Infralias — 48.01°N, 5.53°EMartin Bridge — 44.52°N, 120.63°WHosselkus Limestone — 40.82°N, 122.19°WMufara — 37.55°N, 14.69°EExter — 51.57°N, 9.05°EKössen — 46.62°N, 9.64°EKössen — 47.05°N, 9.70°EWestbury — 51.21°N, 3.44°W

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The named rock units Shastasauridae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Shastasauridae and its relatives

Late Triassic

Where Shastasauridae and its relatives were recorded in the Late Triassic.

Found in the same rock

111 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 32 sites for Shastasauridae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

28 references

Each of the 40 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 16 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Shastasauridae

Credit
LegendZ3
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMerriamosauria through timeFormations of the Late TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Merriam 1902