Genus
Valid Extinct

Janusaurus

Robert et al. 2014

Janusaurus is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Upper Jurassic Slottsmøya Member, Agardhfjellet Formation of Central Spitsbergen. The holotype consists of a partial skull and postcrania, and would have belonged to an individual measuring 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft) long. In 2019, Janusaurus was synonymized with Arthropterygius, though maintained as a separate species, by Nikolay Zverkov and Natalya Prilepskaya, although this synonymy was objected to later that same year by Lene Delsett and colleagues, who maintained that they were sufficiently different to warrant separate genera.

Temporal range
PBDB occurrences
0
Group
Ichtyosaures
Carnivore nektonic Marine
Janusaurus
click to enlarge
The skull of Janusaurus lundi (PMO 222.654). A: Photo in right lateral view of the skull. B: Right lateral view with interpretation of the individual elements. Abbreviations: a, angular; art, articular; d, dentary; en, external naris; j, jugal; l, lacrimal; mx, maxilla; n, nasal; or, orbit; p, parietal; pmx, premaxilla; po, postorbital; pof, postfrontal; prf, prefrontal; q, quadrate; qj, quadratojugal; sa, surangular; st, supratemporal. Scale = 5 cm. © Aubrey Jane Roberts, Patrick Scott Druckenmiller, Glenn-Peter Sætre, Jørn Harald Hurum · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Ichthyosauria Unranked clade
Baracromia Unranked clade
Ophthalmosauridae Family
Ophthalmosaurinae Subfamily
Janusaurus Genus
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
A. J. Robert, P. S. Druckenmiller, and G. -P. Saetre, J. H. Hurum. 2014. A new Upper Jurassic ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Slottsmøya Member, Agardhfjellet Formation of central Spitsbergen. PLoS One 9(8):1-24 DOI ↗