On the presence of Mixosaurus(Ichthyopterygia: Reptilia) in the Middle Triassic of Nevada

• Published in: Journal of Paleontology
• Main Authors: Sander, P. Martin, Bucher, Hugo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1990
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; British Columbia; Exmouth Island; Alaska; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022336000042396; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022336000042396

The small ichthyosaur Mixosaurus is the most widely distributed ichthyosaur. It is known from Lower Triassic rocks of British Columbia, Canada (Callaway and Brinkman, 1989), and Middle Triassic rocks of northwestern North America (Alaska, British Columbia), China, Timor, the western Tethys (Switzerland, Italy, Turkey), the Germanic Triassic, and the high Arctic (Spitsbergen, Exmouth Island) (Mazin, 1986; Callaway and Brinkman, 1989; Callaway and Massare, 1989). The presence of Mixosaurus in one of the richest ichthyosaur provinces, the Middle Triassic of Nevada (Merriam, 1908), has been difficult to establish. The history of this problem is very colorful and is the topic of this note together with the description of a new specimen from the Nevada Middle Triassic.