Shastasaurus

Shastasaurus is an extinct genus of ichthyosaur from the Late Triassic. Specimens have been found in the United States, Canada, and China.

Shastasaurus

P. Martin Sander1*, Xiaohong Chen2, Long Cheng2, Xiaofeng Wang2 · CC BY 2.5 · 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
ShastasauridaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Ichthyopterygia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Ichthyosauria
Environment
marinePBDB, for Ichthyosauria

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 227.3 Mya to 215.38 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 251.902 Mya to 201.4 Mya.

Permian — about 0 of 10 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 0 of 10 occurrencesEarly TriassicMiddle Triassic — about 0 of 10 occurrencesMiddle TriassicLate Triassic — about 9 of 10 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 10 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 occurrences242–241 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences241–239 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences239–237 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences237–235 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences235–234 Mya — about 1 occurrence234–232 Mya — about 1 occurrence232–230 Mya — about 1 occurrence230–228 Mya — about 1 occurrence228–227 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences227–225 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences225–223 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences223–221 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences221–220 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences220–218 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences218–216 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences216–214 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences214–213 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences213–211 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences211–209 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences209–207 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences207–206 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences206–204 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences204–202 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences202–200 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences227.3 Mya215.38 Mya253 Mya200 Mya

10 occurrences of Shastasaurus 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

10 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

5 formations

Hosselkus — 40.94°N, 122.12°WHosselkus — 40.41°N, 122.55°WHosselkus — 40.82°N, 122.05°WHosselkus — 40.72°N, 122.26°WAntimonio — 30.75°N, 112.60°WAntimonio — 30.73°N, 112.60°WPardonet — 57.26°N, 123.02°WMartin Bridge — 44.52°N, 120.63°WHosselkus Limestone — 40.82°N, 122.19°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Shastasaurus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Shastasaurus and its relatives

Late Triassic

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

Found in the same rock

11 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 9 sites for Shastasaurus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

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

8 references

Each of the 10 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. 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 content2

Picture of Shastasaurus

Credit
P. Martin Sander1*, Xiaohong Chen2, Long Cheng2, Xiaofeng Wang2
Licence
CC BY 2.5
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itShastasauridae through timeFormations of the Late TriassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Merriam 1895