'Fish lizard' is the literal meaning of which extinct reptile's name?
Californosaurus Californosaurus Californosaurus perrini ('Perrin's California lizard') was an ichthyosaur, an extinct marine reptile, from the Lower Hosselkus Limestone (Carnian, Late Triassic) of California. Merriam (1902) described it as a new species of "Shastasaurus", "S. perrini". He later recognized the species as generically distinct from the "Shastasaurus" type species, erecting "Delphinosaurus" for "S. perrini". However, "Delphinosaurus" had been previously used for an ophthalmosaurid from Albian-Cenomanian deposits in European Russia, and Kuhn (1934) provided the generic replacement name "Californosaurus". Merriam (1938) independently erected "Perrinosaurus" to replace "Delphinosaurus", but this is a junior objective synonym. The long-snouted head is small in comparison with
Reptile scale Reptile scale Reptile skin is covered with scutes or scales which, along with many other characteristics, distinguish reptiles from animals of other classes. Scales are made of alpha and beta-keratin and are formed from the epidermis (contrary to fish, in which the scales are formed from the dermis). They may be ossified or tubercular, as in the case of lizards, or modified elaborately, as in the case of snakes. Lizard scales vary in form from tubercular to platelike, or imbricate (overlapping). These scales, which on the surface are composed of horny (keratinized) epidermis, may have bony plates underlying them; these