恐龍卡第 1173 張，共 2 027 張

Metashastasaurus

名字的意思： “near Shastasaurus”1

吃：肉魚龍類三疊紀晚期嚴格來說不是恐龍

Metashastasaurus was a huge marine reptile that swam in the oceans during the Late Triassic, about 227 to 205 million years ago. It was not a dinosaur, but a kind of ichthyosaur, with a body like a dolphin and a long snout. It lived in the seas near what is now British Columbia, Canada.1 2

趣味小知識：這種海生爬蟲類在海裡游泳的時候，恐龍正在陸地上走路。大家都叫牠們恐龍，但牠們其實是爬蟲類的另一個分支。

生存年代

227 到 206 百萬年前3

三疊紀晚期

化石發現地

Fossils were found in the Pardonet Formation of British Columbia, Canada.2

最高速度

時速約 46 公里（29 英里）

游泳, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多快？

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

Metashastasaurus 時速約 46 公里 (29 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

Metashastasaurus was first named in 2001 by scientists Nicholls and Manabe.1

Its skeleton is very similar to other shastasaurid ichthyosaurs, but its shoulder blade and fibula (a leg bone) are shaped differently.2

Its skull has large diamond-shaped frontals (bones on top of the head) that enter the supratemporal fenestrae, which are openings in the skull.2

It had four proximal carpals (wrist bones) and four digits in its front limb, showing that earlier reconstructions were based on incomplete material.2

Metashastasaurus lived in a marine environment and was nektonic, meaning it swam actively in the open water.1

It gave birth to live young, like other ichthyosaurs, rather than laying eggs.1

Metashastasaurus 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Metashastasaurus 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

迷思破解王

迷思： Some people think Metashastasaurus was a dinosaur because it lived in the same time as dinosaurs.

真相： Metashastasaurus was an ichthyosaur, a marine reptile, not a dinosaur. Ichthyosaurs lived in the sea and had fish-like bodies, while dinosaurs were land reptiles.1

給恐龍專家

學名: Metashastasaurus
命名者: Nicholls and Manabe 20013
類群: 魚龍類
科 / 演化支: Shastasauridae3
分類: Ichthyosauria > Ichthyosauromorpha3
岩石的年代: 227 到 206 百萬年 (Norian)3
岩層: Pardonet3
國家: 加拿大3
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 2 筆3
發現: Metashastasaurus was named by Nicholls and Manabe in 2001 after they studied new specimens from Pink Mountain, British Columbia. These specimens showed that the species previously called Shastasaurus neoscapularis was different enough to be placed in a new genus.2
仍有爭議: Scientists are still debating whether the genus Shastasaurus is valid, because its type species is based on poor fossils. Metashastasaurus was created to help clarify this, but the relationships between these ichthyosaurs are still not fully settled.2