Futabasaurus

Reconstruction of the skeleton of Futabasaurus suzukii

• Japan ( Tamayama Formation, Futaba Group)

• F. suzukii Satō, Hasegawa & Manabe, 2006

Futabasaurus is a genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Fukushima in Japan. The approximately seven meters long and three to four ton animal lived in the Cretaceous coastal waters off Japan and belonged to the family of Elasmosauriden. The genus and the type species F. suzukii were first described in 2006, 38 years after the discovery of the fossils. This is the first discovery of a Elasmosauriden in the northern Pacific. The Fund is in the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Tokyo.

Discovery

The fossil remains of Futabasaurus suzukii were already 1968 in the Inoceramus - amakusensis zone of Irimazawa member of the Tamayama Formation in the Futaba Group found in the Japanese prefecture of Fukushima by the then high school student Suzuki Tadashi. It was the first fossil find of a larger reptile on Japanese soil. It was only in 2006 Futabasaurus suzukii was described as a new species with its own genre on various grounds. Thus, the type species Futabasaurus suzukii of other Elasmosauriern differs inter alia by a greater distance between eye and nostril, a longer tibia and the shape of the joint between the collarbone and interclavicle.

Between the fossil bones of the specimen found in Fukushima was discovered a number of shark's teeth. This can be attributed either to predation or Aasfraß by the sharks.

Naming

The genus name is derived from the Futabasaurus locality in the Futaba Group, while the specific epithet refers to the surname of the discoverer, Suzuki Tadashi, reference. Immediately after the discovery of the fossil was proposed, Wellessaurus to name suzukii this after Samuel Welles, who examined the findings first, but could not be determined whether it was a new way at the time. It was not until 38 years after the discovery in May 2006 could determine that it was a new type of a new genus and proposed in accordance with applicable Nomeklaturregeln the name Futabasaurus suzukii before a three-member team of Japanese researchers.

The long time span of 38 years between discovery and first description is attributed to the global shortage of the necessary for the comparison of different species and generic features typical of the material. Against the background of increased finds of Elasmosauriden since the nineties eventually succeeded classification in a new genus. It is unclear, however, whether it was at the instance of a female or a male.

In 1990 it was found in the Futaba Group, the fossil remains of a theropod, for the scientific name Futabasaurus has also been proposed. However, since no present necessary first description for scientific naming, these are in accordance with the International Rules for Zoological Nomenclature to a noun nudum without validity as a scientific term. The genus name Futabasaurus therefore was still available up to the work of Satō, Hasegawa, and Manabe.