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Unktaheela specta
Taxonomy
Unktaheela specta was named by Clark et al. (2024). Its type specimen is UCM 35059, a partial skull (Cranium and mandible with nearly complete cervical, sacral, and caudal series, partial dorsal series, ribs, portions of the pelvic and pectoral girdles, both il), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is East of Redbird, Niobrara County, which is in a Campanian marine shale in the Sharon Springs Formation of Wyoming. It is the type species of Unktaheela.
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Unktaheela specta Clark et al. p. 4 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
†Unktaheela specta Clark et al. 2024
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| R. O. Clark et al. 2024 | Small dolichorhynchian polycotyline plesiosaur possessing the following autapomorphies: very large orbit (maximum orbital length to cranial length ratio over 0.2), supraorbital ridge present in orbit's posterodorsal margin, postorbital bar L-shaped, parasphenoid width doubles by about halfway through posterior interpterygoid vacuity, unusually short postorbital region (postorbital cranial length to cranial length ratio 0.15 or less, with postorbital cranial length measured from posterior margin of orbit to posterior edge of quadrate condyle), wide occiput (cranial width to length ratio 0.45 or greater, with width measured across lateral margin of quadrate condyles), posterior cervical neural spines almost twice as wide at apex as at base, medial margin of pubis protrudes anteriorly, anterolateral cornu of pubis extends laterally no further than the acetabulum, radius length exceeds tibia length more than in other polycotylines (radius length to tibia length ratio about 1.3), flange-like preaxial and postaxial margins of propodials thinner than in other polycotylids, ventral surface of distal portion of each propodial more convex than dorsal surface. Also exhibits the following unique combination of traits: frontal has moderate anterior extension into the rostrum, large supraorbital ledge present over anterodorsal corner of orbit, parietal crest has sharp vertical rise at anterior end, parietal crest low, pterygoid anterior processes terminally fuse and split the median symphysis of the vomers in their posterior margin, parasphenoid has cultriform process projecting into the anterior interpterygoid vacuity, prootic has prominent anterior process, paroccipital process has two distal articulation facets, suspensorium vertical, splenial anteriorly surpasses angular to enter mandibular symphysis, angular composes majority of retroarticular process dorsal margin, at least 21 cervical vertebrae, combined width of anterior cervical vertebrae zygapophyses broader than width of centrum, femur narrow. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: o = order | |||||
| Reference: Kiessling 2004 | |||||
Age range: Middle Campanian or 83.50000 to 70.60000 Ma
Collections (2 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Campanian | USA (South Dakota) | Unktaheela specta (94640) | |
| Middle Campanian | USA (Wyoming) | Unktaheela specta (type locality: 233170) |