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Omphalosaurus

Reptilia - Omphalosauridae

Taxonomy
Omphalosaurus was named by Merriam (1906) [Sepkoski's age data: Tr Olen-u Tr Anis Sepkoski's reference number: 1066]. It is not extant. Its type is Omphalosaurus nevadanus.

It was assigned to Ichthyosauria by Merriam (1906), Sepkoski (2002); and to Omphalosauridae by Hay (1930), von Huene (1951), Carroll (1988), Sander and Faber (1998), Maisch (2010), Ekeheien et al. (2018).

Species
O. nettarhynchus, O. nevadanus (type species), O. wolfi

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1906Omphalosaurus Merriam
1930Omphalosaurus Hay p. 129
1951Omphalosaurus von Huene p. 90
1988Omphalosaurus Carroll
1998Omphalosaurus Sander and Faber p. 155
2002Omphalosaurus Sepkoski
2010Omphalosaurus Maisch
2018Omphalosaurus Ekeheien et al. p. 222

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
RankNameAuthor
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
—Ichthyosauromorpha
—Ichthyosauriformes
—Ichthyopterygia(Owen 1840)
—Eoichthyosauria
—Ichthyosauria(de Blainville 1835)
familyOmphalosauridaeMerriam 1906
genusOmphalosaurusMerriam 1906

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Omphalosaurus Merriam 1906
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†Omphalosaurus nettarhynchus Mazin and Bucher 1987
†Omphalosaurus nevadanus Merriam 1906
†Omphalosaurus wolfi Tichy 1995
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
P. M. Sander and C. Faber 1998Small to medium-sized duroophagous ichthyosaur. Differs from all other ichthyosaurs in the particular arrangement of the teeth forming an irregular pavement and not being set in distinct rows. No other ichthyosaur has maxillary grinding surfaces oriented at right angles to each other. The tooth crowns differ from the other durophagous ichthyosaurs (Phalrodon, Tholodus) in that they are lower and more irregular in shape. Instead of longitudinal wrinkles as in the other durophagous ichthyosaurs, the enamel surface has a characteristic orange-peel pitting.
The skull and lower jaw bones are much more massive than in any other ichthyosaur. In no other ichthyosaur have expanded hollow ribs been found. The roundish humeri found in association with Omphalosaurus dentitions differ from other roundish ichthyosaur humeri in their prominent deltopectoral crest.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatiteo
Environment: marineo
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: nektonico
Diet: carnivoreo
Reproduction: viviparouso
Created: 2009-07-20 06:07:40
Modified: 2010-02-23 00:20:57
Source: o = order
Reference: Kiessling 2004

Age range: base of the Spathian to the top of the Ladinian or 251.30000 to 237.00000 Ma

Collections (6 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Spathian251.3 - 247.2USA (Nevada) O. nettarhynchus (196634)
Spathian251.3 - 247.2Svalbard and Jan Mayen O. sp. (196857)
Anisian247.2 - 242.0Poland (Opole) O. sp. (116890)
Middle Triassic247.2 - 237.0USA (Nevada) O. nevadanus (34267)
Ladinian242.0 - 237.0Germany (Bayern (Bavaria)) O. wolfi (97856)
Ladinian242.0 - 237.0Germany (Baden-Wuttemberg) O. sp. (103793)