Name
Muiscasaurus (Muisca lizard).
Phonetic
Mu-es-ca-sor-us.
Named By
E. E. Maxwell, D. Dick, S. Padilla & M. L. Parra - 2015.
Classification
Chordata, Reptilia, Ichthyosauria, Ophthalmosauridae.
Diet
Carnivore/Piscivore.
Species
M. catheti
Size
Preserved holotype skull length 45 centimetres. Reconstructed skull length anything between 48 and 65 centimetres long. Total body size uncertain but estimated to have been about 3 meters long for the juvenile holotype, with adults potentially growing up to 5 meters in length.
Known locations
Colombia - Paja Formation.
Time Period
Barremian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation
Partial skull with some partial post cranial remains thought to be from a juvenile.
Muiscasaurus is a genus of opthalmosaurid ichthyosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous. Opthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs like Muiscasaurus are thought to have been specialists that hunted in deep water where there was very little light.
- A new ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Colombia. - Papers in Palaeontology. - E. E. Maxwell, D. Dick, S. Padilla & M. L. Parra - 2015.
SPECIES SPOTLIGHT
