🎨 RestorationRestoration: Creator: Dmitry Bogdanov · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Life restorations are artistic reconstructions based on fossil evidence; true coloration and soft-tissue details remain uncertain.
Shonisaurus
Shonisaurus popularis (Shonisaurus · Shonisaurus)
Known only from fossils. The IUCN Red List assesses only species extant since 1500 CE, so fossil taxa are not assigned a category.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its estimated body length of about 14.9 m is roughly 3 m longer than a city bus (about 12 m long) (Comparison).
- 💡 Because it is the official state fossil of Nevada in the United States, this ichthyosaur is known as a symbol of the state.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
Shonisaurus popularis (genus Shonisaurus) was a large ichthyosaur that lived in Late Triassic seas and is the state fossil of Nevada in the United States. It was designated the state fossil in 1977.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Although it was initially thought to have had a dorsal fin like later ichthyosaurs, its close relatives lacked a dorsal fin, so it is no longer reconstructed with one. About 40 specimens have been found, though none is completely intact.
🔍 3. Fossil Record & Paleoecology
Partial skeletons of at least seven individuals were found together in a single quarry at Berlin-Ichthyosaur State Park. Although they were once thought to have stranded and died on a beach, they are now thought to have died in deep water, possibly due to a toxic algal bloom.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • Fossil taxon — the IUCN Red List assesses only species living or extinct since 1500
- • paleobiodb.org — basicTaxonInfo
- • wikidata.org — Q131831711
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Shonisaurus-LasVegas.jpg
- • ucmp.berkeley.edu — fieldtrip17 08.php
- • ucmp.berkeley.edu — ucmp-and-the-ichthyosaur-quarry-at-berlin-ichthyosaur-state-
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Amy Beauvois · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.