| Macgowania | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skull and front part of the second specimen | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | †Ichthyosauria |
| Node: | †Parvipelvia |
| Family: | †Macgowaniidae McGowan & Motani,2003 |
| Genus: | †Macgowania Motani,1999 |
| Species: | †M. janiceps |
| Binomial name | |
| †Macgowania janiceps (McGowan, 1996 [originallyIchthyosaurus]) | |
Macgowania is anextinctgenus ofparvipelvianichthyosaur known fromBritish Columbia ofCanada.[1][2] It was a small ichthyosaur around 3 metres (9.8 ft) in total body length.[3]
The first specimen ofMacgowania is theholotypeROM 41992 (RBCM EH 91.2.5), a partialskeleton which preserved nearly completeskull, almost completeforefin and otherpostcranial elements. It was collected in the Jewitt Spur locality from thePardonet Formation, dating to the middleNorian stage of theLate Triassic, about 210million years ago. It was found on the northern shore of thePeace Reach branch ofWilliston Lake. A second specimen from the same locality, ROM 41991, may be referable to this genus based on its forefin structure, but this cannot be confirmed due to its poor preservation.[1]Macgowania has a very stable position in manycladistic analyses.[2][3] The family Macgowaniidae was named by McGowan and Motani in 2003 to include this genus.[4]
A second specimen ofMacgowania was discovered by a British Columbian outdoor club in August 2009. This specimen was largely complete, though it was preserved in a fractured slab of rock balanced on a steep slope above the Graham River, in danger of immediate destruction. The club alerted theRoyal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology about the ichthyosaur, and an expedition to retrieve it was sent out the following month. Once the expedition reached the specimen, only the front part of the skeleton remained, the rest having detached and fallen into the river. The team from the Royal Tyrell Museum worked with the outdoor club to collect the surviving portion of the specimen. Aplaster jacket was created to protect it from damage, after which it was brought down the slope using ropes. Back at the museum, the specimen wasprepared by Mark Mitchell and given the catalog number TMP 2009.121.1. A scientific description of the specimen written by Donald Henderson was published in 2015, in which it was identified asMacgowania janiceps.[5]
Macgowania was originally described by Chris McGowan in 1996 asIchthyosaurus janiceps.[1] It was reassigned to its own genus by Ryosuke Motani in1999 and thetype species isMacgowania janiceps. Thegeneric name honors Chris McGowan for describing the type species.[2] Thespecific name is said to derived fromJanus,Latin for theRoman god with two opposite faces, andceps, Latin for "with a head".[1] The ~ceps suffix is derived fromcaput.Caput is Latin for head.[6]
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