Gunakadeit

Name: Gunakadeit ‭(‬after a sea monster in Tlingit mythology‭)‬.
Phonetic: Gun-ah-kah-deet.
Named By: Patrick S.‭ ‬Druckenmiller,‭ ‬Neil P.‭ ‬Kelley,‭ ‬Eric T.‭ ‬Metz‭ & ‬James Baichtal‭ ‬-‭ ‬2020.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Thalattosauria,‭ ‬Thalattosauroidea.
Species: G.‭ ‬joseeae‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore/Pisciivore.
Size: Skull about‭ ‬12‭ ‬centimetres long.‭ ‬Total length of preserved holotype individual about‭ ‬56-57‭ ‬centimetres,‭ ‬but some rear portion of the tail is missing.
Known locations: USA,‭ ‬Alaska‭ ‬-‭ ‬Hound Island Volcanics.
Time period: Norian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skull and post cranial skeleton.

       Gunakadeit is a genus of thalattosaur that lived in waters around what is now North America during the late Triassic.‭ ‬Gunakadeit is a thalattosaur genus of contrasts.‭ ‬In one respect Gunakadeit appear to have been quite primitive in form when compared to other thalattosaurs.‭ ‬In another,‭ ‬Gunakadeit lived towards the end of the Triassic,‭ ‬after many of the more advanced form thallatosaurs had gone extinct.‭ ‬Gunakadeit seems to have been an exclusively aquatic reptile with jaws that end in a sharp toothless point.‭ ‬Gunakadeit would be expected to have been a predator of fish and soft bodied marine creatures such as cephalopods.

Further reading
-‭ ‬An articulated Late Triassic‭ (‬Norian‭) ‬thalattosauroid from Alaska and ecomorphology and extinction of Thalattosauria.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Scientific Reports.‭ ‬10‭ (‬1‭)‬:‭ ‬1‭–‬14.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Patrick S.‭ ‬Druckenmiller,‭ ‬Neil P.‭ ‬Kelley,‭ ‬Eric T.‭ ‬Metz‭ & ‬James Baichtal‭ ‬-‭ ‬2020.




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