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Elasmosaurus (;) is a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 80.5 million years ago. The first specimen was discovered in 1867 near Fort Wallace, Kansas, US, and was sent to the American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, who named it E. platyurus in 1868. The generic name means "thin-plate reptile", and the specific name means "flat-tailed". Cope originally reconstructed the skeleton of Elasmosaurus with the skull at the end of the tail, an error which was made light of by the paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, and became part of their "Bone Wars" rivalry. Only one incomplete Elasmosaurus skeleton is definitely known, consisting of a fragmentary skull, the spine, and the pectoral and pelvic girdles, and a single species is recognized today; other species are now considered invalid or have been moved to other genera.
Kronosaurus is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur. With an estimated length of 9 to 10.9 meters, it was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Kronos. It lived in the Early Cretaceous period. Fossil material has been recovered from the Toolebuc Formation and Wallumbilla Formations (Aptian) of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia, and from the upper Paja Formation in Boyacá, Colombia, and assigned to two species.
Elasmosauridae is an extinct family of plesiosaurs, often called elasmosaurs. They had the longest necks of the plesiosaurs and existed from the Hauterivian to the Maastrichtian stages of the Cretaceous, and represented one of the two groups of plesiosaurs present at the end of the Cretaceous alongside Polycotylidae. Their diet mainly consisted of crustaceans and molluscs.
Mauisaurus is a genus of plesiosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period around 77 million years ago in what is now New Zealand. It was the largest plesiosaur, and perhaps the largest marine reptile in New Zealand waters at the time. Numerous specimens have been attributed to this genus in the past, but a 2017 paper restricts Mauisaurus to the lectotype and declares it dubious.
Dolichorhynchops is an extinct genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America, containing three species, D. osborni, D. bonneri and D. tropicensis, as well as a questionably referred fourth species, D. herschelensis. Dolichorhynchops was an oceangoing prehistoric reptile. Its Greek generic name means "long-nosed face".
Edgarosaurus is a genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Thermopolis Shale, containing one species, E. muddi. The type specimen was found in Early Cretaceous rocks in the state of Montana in the United States. At the time, this location was covered by part of the Western Interior Seaway. Edgarosaurus was one of the first polycotylids that evolved to become native to the Western Interior Seaway.
Woolungasaurus is a plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile, belonging to the Elasmosauridae.
Tuarangisaurus is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from New Zealand. The type and only known species is Tuarangisaurus keyesi, named by Wiffen and Moisley in 1986.
Styxosaurus is a genus of plesiosaur of the family Elasmosauridae. Styxosaurus lived during the Campanian age of the Cretaceous period. Two species are known: S. snowii and S. browni.
Attenborosaurus is an extinct genus of pliosaurid from the Early Jurassic of Dorset, England. The type species is A. conybeari. The genus is named after David Attenborough, the species after William Conybeare.
Callawayasaurus is a genus of plesiosaur from the family Elasmosauridae. When the first Callawayasaurus fossil was first discovered by Samuel Paul Welles in 1962, it was described as Alzadasaurus colombiensis before being moved into its current genus by Kenneth Carpenter in 1999.
Leurospondylus is a genus of plesiosaur whose family is currently disputed, but is suggested to be Plesiosauridae.
Aristonectes is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous Paso del Sapo Formation of what is now Argentina, the Quiriquina Formation of Chile and the Lopez de Bertodano Formation of Antarctica. The type species is Aristonectes parvidens, first named by Cabrera in 1941. Analysis of a specimen from the Lopez de Bertodano Formation indicates that Aristonectes was one of the largest plesiosaurs ever to exist, with an estimated body length of 10.98 -11.86 meters, and an estimated weight of 4.45 - 13.46 metric tonnes.
Morturneria is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of what is now Antarctica.
Eromangasaurus is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from northern Queensland of Australia.
Zarafasaura is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from the Oulad Abdoun Basin of Morocco.
Albertonectes is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Bearpaw Formation of Alberta, Canada. It contains a single species, Albertonectes vanderveldei. Albertonectes is the longest elasmosaur, and more generally plesiosaur, known to date both in neck and total body length.
This timeline of plesiosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, taxonomic revisions, and cultural portrayals of plesiosaurs, an order of marine reptiles that flourished during the Mesozoic Era. The first scientifically documented plesiosaur fossils were discovered during the early 19th century by Mary Anning. Plesiosaurs were actually discovered and described before dinosaurs. They were also among the first animals to be featured in artistic reconstructions of the ancient world, and therefore among the earliest prehistoric creatures to attract the attention of the lay public. Plesiosaurs were originally thought to be a kind of primitive transitional form between marine life and terrestrial reptiles. However, now plesiosaurs are recognized as highly derived marine reptiles descended from terrestrial ancestors.
Lagenanectes is a genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur from the Lower Cretaceous, found in Lower Saxony, Germany. The only species, Lagenanectes richterae, was first described in 2017, and is regarded as one of the best-preserved plesiosaur fossils from this geological age in Europe. Lagenanectes is one of the earliest elasmosaurids. The holotype is an incomplete skeleton, comprising large parts of the skull, some neck and tail vertebrae as well as ribs and part of the limbs. A length of about 8 meters has been estimated.
Jucha is an extinct genus of plesiosaur found in the Hauterivian Klimovka Formation of Russia. The type species, J. squalea, was one of the basalmost and oldest definitive elasmosaurs known to date.
References
- ↑ http://www.paleofile.com/Sauropterygia/Orophosaurus.asp
- ↑ S. P. Welles. 1962. A new species of elasmosaur from the Aptian of Colombia and a review of the Cretaceous plesiosaurs. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 44(1):1-96. http://www.redciencia.cu/geobiblio/paper/1962_Welles_%20rvw%20of%20K%20plesiosaurs.pdf
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