Nichollssaura is an extinct
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
of
plesiosaurA plesiosaur was a type of carnivorous aquatic reptile. After their discovery, plesiosaurs were somewhat fancifully said to have resembled "a snake threaded through the shell of a turtle", although they had no shell...
from the
Early CretaceousThe Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...
Boreal SeaThe Boreal Sea was a Mesozoic-era seaway that lay along the northern border of Laurasia....
of
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
. The
type speciesIn taxonomy, a type species is a technical phrase, involved in the application of formal names...
is
N. borealis, found in early
AlbianThe Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch/series. Its approximate time range is 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 99.6 ± 0.9 Ma...
deposits of
AlbertaAlberta is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south....
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Nichollssaura fills an approximate 40-million-year gap in the fossil record of North American plesiosaurs.
It was discovered in a
SyncrudeSyncrude Canada Ltd. is the world's largest producer of synthetic crude oil from oil sands and the largest single source producer in Canada. It is located just outside Fort McMurray in the Athabasca Oil Sands, and supplies about 13% of Canada's oil requirements, with a production capacity of...
mineMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock salt and potash...
in
AlbertaAlberta is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south....
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1994. The
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
is on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, missing only the left
forelimbA forelimb is an anterior limb on an animal's body. When referring to quadrupeds , the term foreleg is often instead used....
and
scapulaIn anatomy, the scapula, omo , or shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus with the clavicle ....
, lost when the beast was
discovered accidentallySerendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated. The word has been voted as one of the ten English words that were hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company...
by 100-ton
electric shovelA Power shovel is a bucket equipped machine, usually electrically powered, used for digging and loading earth or fragmented rock, and mineral extraction...
operators Greg Fisher and Lorne Cundal.
The fossil, named after
paleontologicalPaleontology
[from Greek: παλαιός "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought"] is the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
curatorCurator , means manager, overseer.Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections...
Betsy Nicholls,
originally was named
Nichollsia borealis but
NichollsiaNichollsia may refer to the following genera of animals:*Nichollsia, a genus of crustacean*Nichollssaura, formerly Nichollsia, an extinct genus of plesiosaur...
was already in use (preoccupied) by a genus of isopods.
Nichollssaura is an extinct
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
of
plesiosaurA plesiosaur was a type of carnivorous aquatic reptile. After their discovery, plesiosaurs were somewhat fancifully said to have resembled "a snake threaded through the shell of a turtle", although they had no shell...
from the
Early CretaceousThe Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...
Boreal SeaThe Boreal Sea was a Mesozoic-era seaway that lay along the northern border of Laurasia....
of
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
. The
type speciesIn taxonomy, a type species is a technical phrase, involved in the application of formal names...
is
N. borealis, found in early
AlbianThe Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch/series. Its approximate time range is 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 99.6 ± 0.9 Ma...
deposits of
AlbertaAlberta is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south....
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Nichollssaura fills an approximate 40-million-year gap in the fossil record of North American plesiosaurs.
It was discovered in a
SyncrudeSyncrude Canada Ltd. is the world's largest producer of synthetic crude oil from oil sands and the largest single source producer in Canada. It is located just outside Fort McMurray in the Athabasca Oil Sands, and supplies about 13% of Canada's oil requirements, with a production capacity of...
mineMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock salt and potash...
in
AlbertaAlberta is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south....
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1994. The
fossilFossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record...
is on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, missing only the left
forelimbA forelimb is an anterior limb on an animal's body. When referring to quadrupeds , the term foreleg is often instead used....
and
scapulaIn anatomy, the scapula, omo , or shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus with the clavicle ....
, lost when the beast was
discovered accidentallySerendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something entirely unrelated. The word has been voted as one of the ten English words that were hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company...
by 100-ton
electric shovelA Power shovel is a bucket equipped machine, usually electrically powered, used for digging and loading earth or fragmented rock, and mineral extraction...
operators Greg Fisher and Lorne Cundal.
Etymology
The fossil, named after
paleontologicalPaleontology
[from Greek: παλαιός "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought"] is the study of prehistoric life, including organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
curatorCurator , means manager, overseer.Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections...
Betsy Nicholls,
originally was named
Nichollsia borealis but
NichollsiaNichollsia may refer to the following genera of animals:*Nichollsia, a genus of crustacean*Nichollssaura, formerly Nichollsia, an extinct genus of plesiosaur...
was already in use (preoccupied) by a genus of isopods. Thus, the original authors proposed
Nichollssaura as a replacement generic name in 2009.
External links
- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/03/080326-ancient-reptile.html
- http://palaeoblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/betsys-plesiosaur-nichollsia-borealis.html
- http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2008/03/details_on_nichollsia_borealis.php