Auroroborealia

Or-ror-o-bo-re-ah-le-a.
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Cassidy Wood

Paleoentomologist

Cassidy Wood uncovers the tiny yet significant world of prehistoric insects. Her research on amber-preserved specimens has revealed intricate details about ancient ecosystems.

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Name

Auroroborealia ‭(‬Aurora Borealis‭)‬.

Phonetic

Or-ror-o-bo-re-ah-le-a.

Named By

Nikolay G.‭ ‬Zverkov,‭ ‬Dmitry V.‭ ‬Grigoriev,‭ ‬Andrzej S.‭ ‬Wolniewicz,‭ ‬Alexey G.‭ ‬Konstantinov‭ & ‬Evgeny S.‭ ‬Sobolev‭ ‬-‭ ‬2021.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Ichthyosauria.

Diet

Piscivore‭?

Species

A.‭ ‬incognita‭

Size

Roughly estimated between‭ ‬1‭ ‬and‭ ‬1.5‭ ‬meters long.

Known locations

Russia,‭ ‬New Siberian Islands.

Time Period

Norian to Carnian of the Triassic.

Fossil representation

Partial and fragmentary remains.

In Depth

       Auroroborealia is a genus of small icnthyosaur that lived during the late Triassic.‭ ‬The fragmentary nature of the holotype fossils of Auroroborealia mean that many details of Auroroborealia are uncertain.‭ ‬Auroroborealia however seems to have been a small bodied ichthyosaur with short jaws.

Further reading

‭ ‬-‭ ‬Ichthyosaurs from the Upper Triassic‭ (‬Carnian–Norian‭) ‬of the New Siberian Islands,‭ ‬Russian Arctic,‭ ‬and their implications for the evolution of the ichthyosaurian basicranium and vertebral column.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh‭ ‬-‭ ‬Nikolay G.‭ ‬Zverkov,‭ ‬Dmitry V.‭ ‬Grigoriev,‭ ‬Andrzej S.‭ ‬Wolniewicz,‭ ‬Alexey G.‭ ‬Konstantinov‭ & ‬Evgeny S.‭ ‬Sobolev‭ ‬-‭ ‬2021.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT