Parvinatator wapitiensis
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Parvinatator Temporal range: Early Triassic–Middle Triassic |
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| Restoration of its head | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: |
†Ichthyopterygia Owens, 1840 |
| Family: |
†Parvinatatoridae McGowan and Motani, 2003 |
| Genus: |
†Parvinatator Nicholls and Brinkman, 1995 |
| Type species | |
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†Parvinatator wapitiensis Nicholls and Brinkman, 1995 |
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Parvinatator, from Latin, “parvus” little and “natator” swimmer, is an extinct genus of small ichthyopterygian marine reptile that lived during the Early to Middle Triassic. Its fossils have been found in British Columbia, Canada.
The only known Parvinatator fossil was located in an unknown horizon from the Sulfur Mountain Formation in a talus deposit, so its exact geological age is unknown. Best estimates place the fossil somewhere between the Olenekian and Ladinian age around 251-235 mya. Other small ichthyosaurs have been found nearby including Grippia, Utatsusaurus, and Phalarodan.
Parvinatator wapitiensis was discovered in the Sulfur Mountain Formation in British Columbia, Canada, by Elisabeth Nicholls and Don Brinkman in 1995. The only fossil recovered of this genus is a partial skull and two forefins. The skull has been tectonically deformed, partially dis-articulated and broken with the posterior section rotated forward into the orbit. The left forefin is well preserved with only minor overlapping and breakage, while the right forefin is heavily overlapped and broken.
Based on analysis of tooth size relative to the skull width, Parvinatator is estimated to be less than 1 meter long, approximately the same size and general shape of other basal ichthyosaurs, although it is unknown if Parvinatator lacked a dorsal fin like Utatsusaurus and Grippia. Also like other early ichthyosaurs, Parvinatator most likely used an eel-like lateral body movement for propulsion, known as anguilliform. Based on jaw size and tooth shape, Parvinatator is thought to have feed on small fish and cephalopods similarly to other basal ichthyosaurs, as opposed to hard shelled organisms such as mollusks and clams. Ichthyosaurs typically had large eyes suggesting they would hunt in the dark, either at night or in deep water. After the skull’s dis-articulated orbit was reconstructed, it matched the approximate shape and typical size of other ichthyosaurs eyes.
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