Wapitisaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of marine reptiles}} {{automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Early Triassic | taxon = Wapitisaurus | authority = Brinkman, 1988 | type_species = Wapitisaurus problematicus | type_species_authority = Brinkman, 1988 }}

'''''Wapitisaurus''''' is an extinct genus of thalattosaur from the Early Triassic. Its type and only species is '''''Wapitisaurus problematicus'''''. Its remains were discovered in the Vega-Phroso Member of the Sulphur Mountain Formation in British Columbia, Canada.<ref name="Brinkman1988"/>

''Wapitisaurus'' was originally described as a member of Weigeltisauridae, a family of gliding reptiles that otherwise is only known from the Permian period.<ref name="Brinkman1988"/> However, subsequent study determined it was a member of Thalattosauria, a group of unusual marine reptiles that lived during the Triassic period.<ref name="Bastiaans2023"/> The length of ''Wapitisaurus'' has been estimated to be between {{convert|1|and|1.9|m|ft}}, similar to other thalattosaurs.<ref name="Bastiaans2023"/>

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="Bastiaans2023">{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1098/rsos.231171| issn = 2054-5703| volume = 10| issue = 11| article-number = 231171| last1 = Bastiaans| first1 = Dylan| last2 = Buffa| first2 = Valentin| last3 = Scheyer| first3 = Torsten M.| title = To glide or to swim? A reinvestigation of the enigmatic Wapitisaurus problematicus (Reptilia) from the Early Triassic of British Columbia, Canada| journal = Royal Society Open Science| date = 2023-11-15| doi-access = free| pmc = 10646446}}</ref> <ref name="Brinkman1988">{{Cite journal| issn = 0031-0239| volume = 31| issue = 4| pages = 951–955| last = Brinkman| first = Donald| title = A weigeltisaurid reptile from the Lower Triassic of British Columbia| journal = Palaeontology| date = 1988 | url = https://www.palass.org/publications/palaeontology-journal/archive/31/4/article_pp951-955}}</ref> }}

Category:Fossils of Canada Category:Thalattosauria Category:Prehistoric reptile genera