Nanchangosaurus
Name:
Nanchangosaurus
(Nanchang lizard).
Phonetic: Nan-chang-o-sore-us.
Named By: Wang - 1959.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Diapsida.
Species: N. suni (type).
Diet: Piscivore/Carnivore.
Size: About 90-100 centimetres long.
Known locations: China - Nanchang Province.
Time period: Mid Triassic.
Fossil representation: At least one specimen.
Like
with its probable relative Hupehsuchus,
Nanchangosaurus looked like
an ichthyosaur
crossed with an archosaur. For this reason
Nanchangosaurus is regarded as being analogous to an
ichthyosaur though
at best only distantly related to them, even though it is sometimes
listed as one. Unfortunately we can only guess to this exact
relationship since the kind of reptile that Nanchangosaurus
truly is,
is so far poorly represented in the fossil record. Additionally the
immediate ancestors of the ichthyosaurs are also currently unknown,
although again Nanchangosaurus does resemble
primitive forms of these.
As
a living reptile, Nanchangosaurus probably used
its long jaws to gain
additional reach in striking at prey such as fish and cephalopods.
Primary swimming locomotion was probably achieved by side to side
undulations of the tail, while the flipper shaped limbs steered like
rudders, perhaps even helping to navigate submerged obstacles and
weeds. Nanchangosaurus also had armoured ridges
along its back,
though these were not as well developed as those of Hupehsuchus.
This might suggest that the armour was more of a throwback from a
terrestrial ancestor that steadily degraded until it was eventually
lost in more advanced forms, since the armour would not have been as
much use in the water as it was on land. Such armour loss is seen in
some later specialised marine crocodiles
such as Metriorhynchus.
Further reading
- The Enigmatic Marine Reptile Nanchangosaurus from
the Lower Triassic
of Hubei, China and the Phylogenetic Affinities of Hupehsuchia. - PLoS
ONE 9 (7): e102361. - X. H. Chen, R. Motani, L. Cheng, D. Y. Jiang
& O. Rieppel - 2014.
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