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What is Ammonitritor scientiacivium?

Monday, October 19, 2026 8:22

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Sander et al 2926
considered Ammonitritor (Figs 1–3) a genus of early ichthyosauriform in the family Omphalosauridae (Fig 2), known from the Early Triassic of Norway.

Figure 1 Early Triassic Ammonitritor scientiacivium **PGE LE 2024.0.264** from Sander et al 2026. Compared to slightly larger ?Shastasaurus **YGMIR SPC VO3108.**

Backstory
In the large reptile tree (LRT, 2340 taxa) Omphalosaurus (Fig 2) is a basal enaliosaur = marine younginiform, not closer to ichthyosaurs + mesosaurs + thalattosaurs than to sauropterygians = prior to that split. That was a very difficult reconstruction to make = could have large errors.

Figure 2. Omphalosaurus nevadanus, MBG 1500, the Austria specimen, skull portion in situ, mandible parts, skull parts and reconstruction with matching colors based on Sinosaurosphargis, the only other taxon with such a large set of splenials. The premaxillae are wider than the dentaries. Distinct from Sinosaurosphargis, the premaxillae were much enlarged.

Since the Ammonitritorpaper is behind a paywall,
I do not know if the ?Mikadocephalus ichthyosaur YGMIR SPC VO3108 (Fig 1) was compared. There is also a thalattosaur, Miodentosaurus (Fig 3), with similar traits and proportions to the new taxon – along with important differences.

Figure 3. *Ammonitritor* compared to the thalattosaur Miodentosaurus.

The authors also linked
the basal pachypleurosaurs, Cartorhynchus and Sclerocormus (Fig 4) with Omphalosaurus (Fig 2).

The LRT does not recover that interrelationship.

Figure 1. Large Sclerocormus and its much smaller sister, Cartorhynchus. These nest with basal sauropterygians, not ichthyosauriforms. — Figure 4. Large Sclerocormus and its much smaller sister, Cartorhynchus. These nest with basal sauropterygians, not ichthyosauriforms.

Given these several similar taxa from disparate clades,
I’m going to wait for more information before adding Ammonitritor to the LRT. That short snout, deep convex maxilla and other traits pop up several times in the resurrected clade Enaliosauria.

References
Sander PM et al (4 co-authors) 2026. Omphalosauridae (Ichthyosauriformes): enigmatic marine reptiles in the global recovery from the end‐Permian extinction. Biological Reviews. doi:10.1002/brv.70208

wiki/Ammonitritor

Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2026/10/19/what-is-ammonitritor-scientiacivium/

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