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An Early Jurassic ichthyosaur from the Sandilands Formation, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Shane S. Dennison
Affiliation:
2Geological Sciences Department, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, V6T 2B4, Canada
Paul L. Smith
Affiliation:
2Geological Sciences Department, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver, V6T 2B4, Canada
Howard W. Tipper
Affiliation:
3Cordilleran Division, Geological Survey of Canada, 100 W. Pender Street, Vancouver, V6B 1R8, Canada

Extract

A partial skeleton, including a skull with part of the axial skeleton, part of a second skull, and fragments of ribs have been recovered from the Sinemurian of the Sandilands Formation exposed at Kennecott Point in the northwestern Queen Charlotte Islands. This material is the most complete Early Jurassic collection from North America reported to date; other occurrences include a forefin from the Nordegg Formation (Sinemurian) of Alberta positively identified as Ichthyosaurus (McGowan, 1978) and vertebral centra from the Nicely Formation (Pliensbachian), Oregon, not assigned conclusively to a genus (McGowan, 1978). The discovery of ichthyosaurs in the allochthonous insular belt of British Columbia adds weight to the contention that ichthyosaurs were cosmopolitan in their distribution (McGowan, 1978; Orr, 1986).

Type
Paleontological Notes
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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