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A Pictorial Guide to Paleontology - Prehistoric Aquatic Reptiles
Skeletal and reconstructions of more than 60 species mesozoic aquatic reptiles.
The prehistoric aquatic reptiles
1. What are the prehistoric aquatic reptiles?
The transition from the amphibians to reptiles is a revolutionary change in the evolutionary history of the vertebrates. Ever since the beginning of vertebrates, the reptiles are the first group of vertebrates that have truly freed themselves from an aquatic existence and hence tremendously expanded their living spaces.
The ver tebrates have undergone a long and complicated course of evolution, from the water to the land and then to the air. However, in this evolutionary process, some of the reptiles took a different trajectory. Having spent a long time on the land, they re-entered the water, instead of following their predecessors’ steps to tread the land.
This “reversed” course of evolution might be due more to the brutal “struggle for existence” on the land. Perhaps out of the fond “memories” of a less competitive aquatic environment, they returned to the water where food was more plentiful and living places more accommodating. We called them aquatic reptiles.
The aquatic reptiles appeared around the Permian, and Mesosaurus is a typical representative. A considerable number of them have even survived to this day. However, the majority of them lived during the Mesozoic Era, about 250 to 65 million years ago.
The aquatic reptiles described in this book are the ones that lived in the Mesozoic, and we call them the prehistoric aquatic reptiles.
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2. Classification of the prehistoric aquatic reptiles
The prehistoric aquatic reptiles contain diverse groups. The most important ones are as follows: the Ichthyosauria, the Mosasauridae, the Thalattosauria, the Placodontia, the Nothosauroidea, the Plesiosauria, the Protorosauria, the Crocodyliforms, and the Turtles etc.
This book deals with all of these groups.
3. Characteristics of the prehistoric aquatic reptiles
The reptiles that returned to the water must have first changed their anatomical structures along with the changes in the modes of reproduction and behavior. This was a difficult and long process, and they had no choice but strived to adapt to new environment.
The prehistoric aquatic reptiles all had a streamlined body, just like that of the dolphin, with their neck and body joined smoothly into a streamline, which helped reduce the resistance of the water while swimming.
As the buoyancy of the water eased their support of a heavy body, their sternum, ribs, and four limbs gradually became thinner. However, their spinal column became more robust, stronger, and more flexible, which helped them move more easily in the water.
After they returned to the water, their four limbs gradually became webbed ippers and their tail changed into a wide “fin”, which provides sufficient power for pushing themselves through the water.
With changes in the anatomical structures and the living environment came the great changes in their behavior, the most striking being the change in the mode of their reproduction. Many of them no longer laid eggs like other reptiles. Instead they developed ovoviviparity. As a result, they did not have to incubate their babies in the eggs but delivered their babies directly in the water.
4. History of the prehistoric aquatic reptile studies
Although the prehistoric aquatic reptiles are not as well-known as the dinosaurs, their discoveries and studies got started much earlier than those of the dinosaurs.
As early as in 1699, scholars reported the finding of some fragmentary ichthyosaur fossils in Wales, the Great Britain. In 1708, the fossil vertebrae of ichthyosaur were mentioned in two more papers, but these fossils were not yet scientifically recognized as ichthyosaurs. Instead, they were considered the “evil people” who died in the flood as recorded in the Bible. Then in 1780, a large mosasaur skull was discovered in Netherlands, in which large and sharp teeth were clearly observed. It was a rather historic moment in the history of paleontological discoveries, because people were frightened and thought the large skull belonged to the evil dragon killed by a warrior as is told in a legend.
In 1811, Mary Anning found a complete ichthyosaur fossil near her hometown of Lyme Regis in southern England, which brought to light this huge and bizarre animal that had lived in the prehistoric time.
This was how the prehistoric aquatic reptiles were brought to people’s attention. Soon afterwards, many more fossils of the Ichthyosauria and Plesiosauria were discovered, when the word “dinosaur” had not even been coined yet. The word “dinosaur” was proposed by Sir Richard Owen in 1842.
Early studies of the prehistoric aquatic reptiles were done mainly in Europe and the United States, and they did not get started in China until 1942, when renowned Chinese pale
致谢Acknowledgments
序Foreword
前言Preface
史前水生爬行动物The prehistoric aquatic reptiles
鱼龙超目 Ichthyopterygia
歌津鱼龙科 Utatsusauridae
屈顶歌津鱼龙Utatsusaurus hataii Shikama, Kamei et Murata, 1978
短尾鱼龙科 Grippidae
龟山巢湖龙Chaohusaurus geishanensis Young et Dong, 1972
鱼龙目 Ichthyosauria
浮游杯椎鱼龙Cymbospondylus natans Leidy, 1868
玛瑙混鱼龙Mixosaurus cornalianus (Bassani, 1886) Baur, 1887
西藏喜马拉雅鱼龙Himalayasaurus tibetensis Dong, 1972
通俗肖尼鱼龙Shonisaurus popularis Camp, 1976
卧龙岗卡洛维龙Callawayia oweni Chen,Cheng et Sander, 2007 致谢Acknowledgments
序Foreword
前言Preface
史前水生爬行动物The prehistoric aquatic reptiles
鱼龙超目 Ichthyopterygia
歌津鱼龙科 Utatsusauridae
屈顶歌津鱼龙Utatsusaurus hataii Shikama, Kamei et Murata, 1978
短尾鱼龙科 Grippidae
龟山巢湖龙Chaohusaurus geishanensis Young et Dong, 1972
鱼龙目 Ichthyosauria
浮游杯椎鱼龙Cymbospondylus natans Leidy, 1868
玛瑙混鱼龙Mixosaurus cornalianus (Bassani, 1886) Baur, 1887
西藏喜马拉雅鱼龙Himalayasaurus tibetensis Dong, 1972
通俗肖尼鱼龙Shonisaurus popularis Camp, 1976
卧龙岗卡洛维龙Callawayia oweni Chen,Cheng et Sander, 2007
长嘴真鼻龙Eurhinosaurus longirostris (Mantell, 1851) Abel, 1909
板齿离片齿龙Temnodontosaurus platyodon Lydekker, 1889
艾森奈库斯大眼鱼龙Ophthalmosaurus icenicus Seeley, 1874
平趾扁鳍鱼龙Platypterygius platydactylus(Broili, 1907) von Huene, 1922
窄吻狭翼鱼龙Stenopterygius quadriscissus (Von Quenstadt, 1858) Jaekel, 1904
皮氏加利福尼亚鱼龙Californosaurus perrini (Merriam, 1902) Kuhn, 1934
周氏黔鱼龙Qianichthyosaurus zhoui Li, 1999
典型鱼龙Ichthyosaurus communis (De la Beche et Conybeare, 1821) Conybeare, 1822
有鳞目 Squamata
沧龙科 Mosasauridae
霍夫曼沧龙 Mosasaurus hoffmanni (Conybeare,1822) Mantell, 1829
原蟒硬椎龙Clidastes propython Cope, 1869
穆亘浩温亘莫那龙Moanasaurus mangahouangae Wiffen, 1980
本尼森浮龙Plotosaurus bennisoni Camp, (1942) 1951
索尔维倾齿龙Prognathodon solvayi Dollo, 1889
阿拉巴马球齿龙Globidens alabamensis Gilmore, 1912
马氏扁掌龙Plioplatecarpus marshi Dollo, 1882
鼓膜板踝龙Platecarpus tympaniticus Cope, 1869
波氏安哥拉龙Angolasaurus bocagei Telles-Antunes, 1964
贝尔纳迪海诺龙Hainosaurus bernardi Dollo, 1885
普氏海王龙Tylosaurus proriger (Cope, 1869) Marsh, 1872
欧氏海怪龙Taniwhasaurus oweni Hector, 1874
扁平大洋龙Halisaurus platyspondylus Marsh, 1869
鳍龙超目 Sauropterygia
海龙形类 Thalattosauriformes
海龙目 Thalattosauria
意大利迷幻龙 Askeptosaurus italicus Nopcsa, 1925
黄果树安顺龙Anshunsaurus huangguoshuensis Liu, 1999
孙氏新铺龙 Xinpusaurus suni Yin, 2000
齿龙目 Placodontia
扁齿龟龙Placochelys placodonta Jaekel, 1902
新铺中国豆齿龙Sinocyamodus xinpuensis Li, 2000
巨大齿龙 Placodus gigas Agassiz, 1833
多板砾甲龟龙Psephochelys polyosteoderma Li et Rieppel, 2002
真鳍龙类 Eusauropterygia
幻龙目 Nothosauroidea
胡氏贵州龙Keichousaurus hui Young, 1958
鲍氏鸥龙Lariosaurus balsami Curioni, 1847
兴义鸥龙Lariosaurus xingyiensis Li, Liu et Rieppel, 2002
奇异幻龙Nothosaurus mirabilis Münster, 1834
纯信龙类 Pistosauroidea
李氏云贵龙Yunguisaurus liae Cheng, Sato, Wu et Li, 2006
长寿纯信龙Pistosaurus longaevus Meyer, 1839
蛇颈龙目 Plesiosauria
上龙亚目 Pliosauroidea
杨氏璧山上龙Bishanopliosaurus youngi Dong, 1980
澄江渝州上龙Yuzhoupliosaurus chengjiangensis Zhang, 1985
普克兰彪龙Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni Carte et Bailey, 1863 &nbs
Title in Pin Yin: Published in: Changsha, Hunan Province
Publisher: Hunan Science and Technology Press Printed in: Changsha, Hunan Province
Edition: 1st Domestic Book Number:
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