Taxons
Euichthyosauria
Partial skull of Shastasaurus pacificus (UCMP 9017) from the Late Triassic of California, USA, in (A) lateral, (B) dorsal, and (C) anterolateral view.
Based on this skull, Shastasaurus has repeatedly been reconstructed with a long, tooth-bearing rostrum. However, note the slenderness of the lower jaw (B, C) and the strong anterior taper of the snout (B), both of which are more consistent with the abbreviated and toothless snout of Shastasaurus liangae comb. nov. than with the traditional long-snouted reconstruction of this skull (as, e.g., in references [22] and [23]).
![Partial skull of Shastasaurus pacificus (UCMP 9017) from the Late Triassic of California, USA, in (A) lateral, (B) dorsal, and (C) anterolateral view.
Based on this skull, Shastasaurus has repeatedly been reconstructed with a long, tooth-bearing rostrum. However, note the slenderness of the lower jaw (B, C) and the strong anterior taper of the snout (B), both of which are more consistent with the abbreviated and toothless snout of Shastasaurus liangae comb. nov. than with the traditional long-snouted reconstruction of this skull (as, e.g., in references [22] and [23]).](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Shastasaurus_pacificus.jpg/330px-Shastasaurus_pacificus.jpg)
