Platypterygius


Platypterygius is an ichthyosaur of the family Ophthalmosauridae. It is most closely related to the genera Caypullisaurus and Brachypterygius. The ichthyosaur lived from the Early Cretaceous to the earliest Late Cretaceous and had a cosmopolitan distribution.

Description

Platypterygius reached a length of about. It had a long snout and a powerful finned tail. There are more digits in the front flippers than is usual in ichthyosaurs; they are tightly bound in rows, giving a broad, flat appearance. This unusual characteristic gives the genus its name, meaning 'flat wing.' Furthermore, some of the wrist bones have disappeared entirely. CAT scans on a juvenile specimen strongly suggest that Platypterygius was deaf.

Discovery and species

There are eight named species. Both adults and juveniles have been unearthed, including newborns and pregnant females which indicate that, like other ichthyosaurs, Platypterygius gave live birth.
The remains from Australia were originally called Ichthyosaurus australis. They are from the Toolebuc Formation and Allaru Mudstone of Flinders River and other localities in north central Queensland. In 1990 Wade erected the species name P. longmani to include all remains previously referred to I. australis.

Recognized species

The cladogram below follows the topology from a 2010 analysis by Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Erin E. Maxwell.

Palaeobiology

P. australis has been found with remains of sea turtles and birds in its guts. Several species attributed to this genus do indeed appear to be apex predators, specialised to hunting proportionally large prey.

Distribution

s of Platypterygius are known from: