Arthropterygius

Name: Arthropterygius ‭(‬Rib wing‭)‬.
Phonetic: Ar-fro-teh-ree-gee-is.
Named By: Erin E.‭ ‬Maxwell‭ ‬-‭ ‬2010.
Synonyms: Ophthalmosaurus chrisorum.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Ichthyosauria,‭ ‬Ophthalmosauridae.
Species: A.‭ ‬chrisorum‭ (‬type‭), A. thalassonotus‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain, but various individuals estimated between 3 and 5 meters long.
Known locations: Argentina. Canada,‭ ‬Northwest Territories,‭ ‬Melville Island. Norway. Russia.
Time period: Oxfordian to Kimmeridgian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Well preserved specimens.




       Originally described as a species of Ophthalmosaurus‭ (‬O.‭ ‬chrisorum‭) ‬a‭ ‬2010‭ ‬study saw the specimens elevated to the level of a distinct genus of ichthyosaur.‭ ‬Arthropterygius was also considered to be similar to Caypullisaurus,‭ ‬but not all researchers have followed this and instead treat Arthropterygius as a basal‭ (‬primitive‭) ‬member of the Ophthalmosauridae.‭

Further reading
- The genus Arthropterygius Maxwell (Ichthyosauria: Ophthalmosauridae) in the Late Jurassic of the Neuquén Basin, Argentina. - Geobios. 45 (6): 535–540. - M. S. Fernández & E. E. Maxwell - 2012.
- A prevalence of Arthropterygius (Ichthyosauria: Ophthalmosauridae) in the Late Jurassic—earliest Cretaceous of the Boreal Realm. - PeerJ. 7: e6799. - Nikolay G. Zverkov & Natalya E. Prilepskaya - 2019.



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