Augustasaurus
Name:
Augustasaurus
(Augusta lizard - after the Augusta Mountains).
Phonetic: Or-gus-tah-sore-us.
Named By: Sander et al. - 1997.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Pistosauroidea.
Species: A. hagdorni (type).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Roughly about 2.5 to 3 meters long.
Known locations: USA, Nevada, Augusta Mountains
- Favret Formation.
Time period: Anisian of the Triassic.
Fossil representation: Skull and post cranial
remains.
Augustasaurus was the second member of the Pistosauroidea group of Triassic marine reptiles discovered. Given that the first (and currently only other of known) member of the group, Pistosaurus, is known from Europe, this reveals that the pistosauroid sauropterygians had at least a reasonable geographic range. Like with Pistosaurus, Augustasaurus resembles early plesiosaur forms, although it is not thought to be a plesiosaur itself. Augustasaurus is however seen to be a more advanced form of pistosaurid than Pistosaurus.
Further reading
The skull of the pistosaur Augustasaurus from the middle triassic of
northwestern Nevada. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. - O.
Rieppel, P. M. Sander & G. W. Storrs - 1997.
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