Himalayasaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| taxon = Himalayasaurus

| fossil_range = Late Triassic, {{Fossil range|215.56|212.0|ref={{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36556 |title=†Himalayasaurus Dong 1972 (ichthyosaur) |work=Paleobiology Database |publisher=Fossilworks |access-date=11 August 2017 }}}}

| image = Himalayasaurus.png

| image_caption = Life reconstruction of Himalayasaurus tibetensis

| authority = Dong, 1972

| type_species = {{extinct}}Himalayasaurus tibetensis

| type_species_authority = Dong, 1972

}}

Himalayasaurus is an extinct genus of ichthyosaur from the Late Triassic Qulonggongba Formation of Tibet. The type species Himalayasaurus tibetensis was described in 1972 on the basis of fragmentary remains, including teeth, limb bones, and vertebrae.{{cite book|last=Dong|first=Z.-M.|year=1972|script-chapter=zh:珠穆朗玛峯地区的鱼龙化石|trans-chapter=An ichthyosaur fossil from the Qomolangma (Mt. Everest) region|editor-last1=Young|editor-first1=C. C.|editor-last2=Dong|editor-first2=Z.-M.|script-title=zh:中国三迭纪水生爬行动物|trans-title=Aquatic Reptiles from the Triassic of China|series=Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology|volume=9|pages=7-10|language=zh-cn}} The entire body length of Himalayasaurus is estimated to have been over {{convert|15|m|ft}} in length.{{cite journal |last=Motani |first=R. |author2=Manabe, M. |author3=Dong, Z.-M. |year=1999 |title=The status of Himalayasaurus tibetensis (Ichthyopterygia) |journal=Paludicola |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=174–181 |url=http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/motani/pdf/Motanietal1999a.pdf |access-date=2013-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305020132/http://mygeologypage.ucdavis.edu/motani/pdf/Motanietal1999a.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-05 |url-status=dead }} Himalayasaurus has since been considered a nomen dubium or "dubious name" because of the lack of features that set it apart from other ichthyosaurs,{{cite journal |last=Lucas |first=S.G. |author2=González-León, C.M. |year=1995 |title=Ichthyosaurs from the Upper Triassic of Sonora and the biochronology of Triassic ichthyosaurs |journal=Geological Society of America Special Papers |volume=301|pages=17–20}} although the presence of distinct cutting edges on its teeth have more recently been proposed as a unique feature of the genus (cutting edges have also been found in the ichthyosaur Thalattoarchon from the western United States).{{cite journal | first1 = N. B. | last1 = Fröbisch | first2 = J. R. | last2 = Fröbisch | first3 = P. M. | last3 = Sander | first4 = L. | last4 = Schmitz | first5 = O. | last5 = Rieppel | year = 2013 | title = Macropredatory ichthyosaur from the Middle Triassic and the origin of modern trophic networks | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1216750110 | volume=110 | issue = 4 | pages=1393–1397 | pmid=23297200 | pmc=3557033| bibcode = 2013PNAS..110.1393F | doi-access = free }} Himalayasaurus belongs to the family Shastasauridae, which includes other large-bodied Triassic ichthyosaurs like Shonisaurus.