Pronunciation: AY-zha-MER-i-KAHN-uh
Meaning: for Asiamerica
Author/s: Nesov (1995)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Kyzylkum desert, Uzbekistan
Discovery Chart Position: #
Asiamericana asiatica
Asiamericana was described in 1995 by Lev A. Nesov, who couldn't decide if its three unusually straight and thought-to-be serration-lacking teeth belonged to a spinosaurid dinosaur or a fish.
Many palaeontologists have described them as "almost fish-like theropod teeth", but you can't get more fish-like than a fish. In case you were still wandering, Nesov eventually decided that Asiamericana was definately a fish. But it isn't.
In 2013, Hans-Dieter Sues and Alexander Averianov referred Asiamericana to Richardoestesia, mainly because its teeth do have tiny serrations (7-8 denticles per mm), similar to those seen on the teeth of Richardoestesia isosceles... which may actually belong to a crocodile ancestor.
As well as the Asiamericana holotype, Sues and Averianov referred dozens of teeth from the Khodzhakul and Bissekty Formations to Richardoestesia too. But they chose to keep Nesov's original epithet, and so Richardoestesia asiaticus—a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma—was born. Let's see if the experts take to it.
Many palaeontologists have described them as "almost fish-like theropod teeth", but you can't get more fish-like than a fish. In case you were still wandering, Nesov eventually decided that Asiamericana was definately a fish. But it isn't.
In 2013, Hans-Dieter Sues and Alexander Averianov referred Asiamericana to Richardoestesia, mainly because its teeth do have tiny serrations (7-8 denticles per mm), similar to those seen on the teeth of Richardoestesia isosceles... which may actually belong to a crocodile ancestor.
As well as the Asiamericana holotype, Sues and Averianov referred dozens of teeth from the Khodzhakul and Bissekty Formations to Richardoestesia too. But they chose to keep Nesov's original epithet, and so Richardoestesia asiaticus—a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma—was born. Let's see if the experts take to it.
Etymology
Asiamericana means "associated with Asiamerica"—the Late Cretaceous landmass that connected Asia with America—because similar fossil teeth have been found in Central Asia and North America.
The species epithet, asiatica, means "of Asia" as in "Asian".
Discovery
The first remains of Asiamericana were discovered in the Bissekty Formation, central Kyzylkum desert, Uzbekistan, by Lev Alexandrovich Nesov in 1995.
The holotype (CCMGE 460/12457) consists of three teeth.
