Luskhan
| Luskhan Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous, upper Hauterivian,
| |
|---|---|
| Holotype skeleton | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Suborder: | †Pliosauroidea |
| Family: | †Pliosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Brachaucheninae |
| Genus: | †Luskhan Fischer et al. 2017 |
| Species: | †L. itilensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Luskhan itilensis Fischer et al., 2017
| |
Luskhan (meaning "water spirit chief") is an extinct genus of large pliosaurid plesiosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous of western Russia. The only known species is L. itilensis, first described in 2017 from a well-preserved and nearly complete skeleton discovered in the Ulyanovsk region. As an early-diverging brachauchenine, Luskhan consequently exhibits an intermediate combination of traits seen in more basal (less specialized) and more derived (more specialized) pliosaurs. However, Luskhan departs significantly from other pliosaurs in that it exhibits a lack of adaptations in its skull to feeding on large prey; its slender snout, small teeth, and short tooth rows instead indicate a skull adapted for feeding on small, soft prey. With these features, it is the pliosaur that approaches closest to the distantly-related piscivorous polycotylids, having convergently evolved these traits more than 10 million years apart.