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Taniwhasaurus
Taxonomy
Taniwhasaurus was named by Hector (1874) [Sepkoski's age data: K u].
It was assigned to Pythonomorpha by Hector (1874); to Mosasaurinae by Russell (1967); to Mosasauridae by McDowell and Bogert (1954) and Carroll (1988); to Squamata by Sepkoski (2002); and to Tylosaurinae by Welles and Gregg (1971), Caldwell et al. (2008) and Driscoll et al. (2019).
It was assigned to Pythonomorpha by Hector (1874); to Mosasaurinae by Russell (1967); to Mosasauridae by McDowell and Bogert (1954) and Carroll (1988); to Squamata by Sepkoski (2002); and to Tylosaurinae by Welles and Gregg (1971), Caldwell et al. (2008) and Driscoll et al. (2019).
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1874 | Taniwhasaurus Hector p. 334 |
| 1954 | Taniwhasaurus McDowell and Bogert p. 132 |
| 1967 | Taniwhasaurus Russell p. 147 |
| 1971 | Taniwhasaurus Welles and Gregg p. 52 |
| 1988 | Taniwhasaurus Carroll |
| 2002 | Lakumasaurus Novas et al. |
| 2002 | Taniwhasaurus Sepkoski |
| 2008 | Taniwhasaurus Caldwell et al. |
| 2019 | Taniwhasaurus Driscoll et al. |
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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. †Taniwhasaurus Hector 1874
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†Taniwhasaurus antarcticus Novas et al. 2002
†Taniwhasaurus mikasaensis Caldwell et al. 2008
Invalid names: Lakumasaurus Novas et al. 2002 [synonym]
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| J. Hector 1874 | "Dorsal vertebrae with the cup end expanded, and tapering obliquely to the ball end. Humerus very short, wide, and with powerful muscular crests. Teeth conical, with pulp cavity expanded at base." | |
| M. W. Caldwell et al. 2008 | Tylosaurine mosasaur with prefrontal excluding maxilla from contact with frontal; broad overlap of prefrontal and postorbitofrontal above orbit, excluding frontal from orbital margin; frontal shield-shaped rather than triangular; narial opening beginning between third and fourth maxillary tooth position; 13 to14 teeth in maxilla; at least 15 dentary teeth; teeth distally slender, posteromedially recurved with narrow and distinct lateral fluting and medial striation; predental rostrum of premaxilla with dorsal sagittal crest; small predental process on anterior tip of dentary; base of ectopterygoid process broad anteroposteriorly; distal end of (ectopterygoid) process forming thick, rounded tubercle facing ventrolaterally and slightly posteriorly; posteroventral process of jugal present; quadrate shaft distinctly deflected laterally around midheight; anterior border of cephalic portion of quadrate nearly straight; suprastapedial process roughly 50% or more of quadrate height; suprastapedial process not constricted in dorsal view; distal end of suprastapedial process strongly deflected anteriorly and medially, squared off rather than pointed; infrastapedial process small. |