Janusaurus

Janusaurus
Temporal range: Tithonian
~150–146 Ma[1]
↓
Holotype skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Sauropsida
Subclass:
Diapsida
Order:
†Ichthyosauria
Family:
†Ophthalmosauridae
Genus:
†Janusaurus

Roberts et al., 2014
Binomial name
†Janusaurus lundi
Roberts et al., 2014

Janusaurus is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Upper Jurassic Slottsmøya Member, Agardhfjellet Formation of Central Spitsbergen. The holotype consists of a partial skull and postcrania, and would have belonged to an individual measuring 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft) long.[2] In 2019, Janusaurus was synonymized with Arthropterygius, though maintained as a separate species, by Nikolay Zverkov and Natalya Prilepskaya,[3] although this synonymy was objected to later that same year by Lene Delsett and colleagues, who maintained that they were sufficiently different to warrant separate genera.[4]

  1. ^ "Janusaurus at Fossilworks". Paleobiology Database. Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Roberts, A. J.; Druckenmiller, P. S.; Sætre, G. P.; Hurum, J. H. (2014). "A New Upper Jurassic Ophthalmosaurid Ichthyosaur from the Slottsmøya Member, Agardhfjellet Formation of Central Spitsbergen". PLOS ONE. 9 (8): e103152. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j3152R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103152. PMC 4118863. PMID 25084533.
  3. ^ Zverkov, N. G.; Prilepskaya, N. E. (2019). "A prevalence of Arthropterygius (Ichthyosauria: Ophthalmosauridae) in the Late Jurassic—earliest Cretaceous of the Boreal Realm". PeerJ. 7: e6799. doi:10.7717/peerj.6799. PMC 6497043. PMID 31106052.
  4. ^ Delsett, L. L.; Roberts, A. J.; Druckenmiller, P. S.; Hurum, J. H. (2019). "Osteology and phylogeny of Late Jurassic ichthyosaurs from the Slottsmøya Member Lagerstätte (Spitsbergen, Svalbard)". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 64 (4): 717–743. doi:10.4202/app.00571.2018. hdl:10852/76089. S2CID 210294877.