Toretocnemus

Name: Toretocnemus
Phonetic: To-ret-oc-ne-mus.
Named By: Merriam‭ ‬-‭ ‬1903.
Synonyms: Merriamia,‭ ‬Leptocheirus‭?
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Ichthyopterygia,‭ ‬Ichthyosaura,‭ ‬Toretocnemidae.
Species: T.‭ ‬californicus‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬T.‭ ‬zitteli.
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Uncertain,‭ ‬but probably not more than‭ ‬2‭ ‬meters long at most.
Known locations: USA,‭ ‬California,‭ ‬Shasta county‭ ‬-‭ ‬Hosselkus Limestone.
Time period: Carnian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: At least two specimens.

       As a late Triassic ichthyosaur, Toretocnemus displays some features that show a trend similar to that seen in other transitory ichthyosaurs like Mixosaurus,‭ ‬developing the advanced features that are more commonly associated with later forms like Ichthyosaurus.‭ ‬For a long time Toretocnemus was the only member of its group of ichthyosaurs until the addition of Qianichthyosaurus.
       In‭ ‬1904‭ ‬another ichthyosaur described and named‭ ‬was Merriamia zitteli,‭ ‬however a‭ ‬2000‭ ‬review by M.‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Maisch and A.‭ ‬T.‭ ‬Matzke found it to be the same as Toretocnemus.‭ ‬Thus the fossil material originally referred to as Merriamia was used to establish the second Toretocnemus species T.‭ ‬zitteli.‭ ‬Additionally remains originally named as Leptocheirus have been renamed Toretocnemus by the same study.

Further reading
- New ichthyosaurs from the Upper Triassic of California. - Bulletin of the Department of Geology of the University of California, 3 (12): 249–263. - J. C. Merriam - 1903.
- Toretocnemus, a Late Triassic ichthyosaur from California, U.S.A. and Sonora, Mexico. - New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 21: 275–278. - Spencer Lucas - 2002.




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