| Pahasapasaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Life restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Family: | †Polycotylidae |
| Genus: | †Pahasapasaurus |
| Species: | †P. haasi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Pahasapasaurus haasi Schumacher2007 | |
Pahasapasaurus is agenus ofpolycotylidplesiosaur from the lateCenomanian-agedGreenhorn Limestone ofSouth Dakota, United States, about 94 million years ago. Distinctive features of the taxon include elongate epipodial bones (radius/ulna -tibia/fibula) and the nature of the palate bones (roof of the mouth). Thetype species isP. haasi.[1]
In August 1934, entrepreneur Charles Christian Haas and his son Arthur while searching for shark teeth discovered a plesiosaur skeleton near the Maloney Creek, south of theBelle Fourche River in the northernBlack Hills. They collected and partially prepared the specimen, studying the relevant scientific literature to better understand the bones and documenting the dig via photographs and matrix samples. A report was written, published by the Science Service Bureau. Haas hoped to sell the specimen to some museum but when no buyer showed interest, he donated it to the Pioneer Museum atDeadwood, the presentAdams Museum & House. By 1937 it had been identified asTrinacromerum bentonianum byStephen Chapman Simms, the director of theField Museum.
In 1996, museum director Mary Kopco, in cooperation with the Haas family, decided to restore the specimen. Dr Gordon Bell of theSouth Dakota School of Mines and Technology inRapid City headed the project which was actually carried out by his student Bruce Schumacher. Schumacher quickly concluded from the morphology of the fins that it was notTrinacromerum but a species new to science which he reported in 1997.[2] Preparation continued in aDisney World laboratory open to the public. Parts of the vertebral column were still covered by sugar sacks and paste. From the other bones thick layers ofshellac had to be removed. Ultimately, the fossil was again exhibited in the AMM.
In 2007, Schumacher namedPahasapasaurus haasi. The generic name is derived fromPahaSapa, meaning "Black Hills" in theSioux language. This name was chosen by the Haas family, because Charles Haas had always been interested in the Lakota archeology of the Black Hills. The specific name honours C.C. Haas as discoverer.
Theholotype isAMM 98.1.1, a partial skeleton with skull and lower jaws.
 | This article about aplesiosaur is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
.png)