Kronosaurus is an extinct genus of large short-necked pliosaur that lived during the Aptian to Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous in what is now Australia. The first known specimen was received in 1899 and consists of a partially preserved mandibular symphysis, which was first thought to come from an ichthyosaur according to Charles De Vis. However, it was 1924 that Albert Heber Longman formally described this specimen as the holotype of an imposing pliosaurid, to which he gave the scientific name K. queenslandicus, which is still the only recognized species nowadays. The genus name, meaning "lizard of Kronos", refers to its large size and possible ferocity reminiscent of the Titan of the Greek mythology, while the species name alludes to Queensland, the Australian state of its discovery. In the early 1930s, the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology sent an organized expedition to Australia that recovered two specimens historically attributed to the taxon, including a well known partial skeleton that is now massively restored in plaster. Several attributed fossils were subsequently discovered, including two large, more or less complete skeletons proposed as potential neotypes. Two additional species were proposed, but these are now seen as invalid or belonging to another genus.
Zapatoca is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. It is at a high altitude and is a common stop between Bucaramanga and San Gil. It was built in the early 17th century by the Spanish conquistadores.
Platypterygius is a historically paraphyletic genus of platypterygiine ichthyosaur from the Cretaceous period. It was historically used as a wastebasket taxon, and most species within Platypterygius likely are undiagnostic at the genus or species level, or represent distinct genera, even being argued as invalid. While fossils referred to Platypterygius have been found throughout different continents, the holotype specimen was found in Germany.
Sáchica is a municipality of Colombia situated approximately 34 km (21 mi) west of Tunja in the Ricaurte Province of the department of Boyacá. Sáchica borders Sutamarchán and Villa de Leyva in the north, in the east Chíquiza, Samacá and Ráquira in the south and in the west Ráquira and Sutamarchán. Sáchica is known as the national capital of onions.
Brachauchenius is an extinct genus of pliosaurid that lived in North America and Morocco during the Late Cretaceous.
The Paja Formation is an Early Cretaceous geologic formation of central Colombia. The formation extends across the northern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the Western Colombian emerald belt and surrounding areas of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. In the subsurface, the formation is found in the Middle Magdalena Valley to the west. The Paja Formation stretches across four departments, from north to south the southernmost Bolívar Department, in Santander, Boyacá and the northern part of Cundinamarca. Well known fossiliferous outcrops of the formation occur near Villa de Leyva, also written as Villa de Leiva, and neighboring Sáchica.
Acamptonectes is a genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs, a type of dolphin-like marine reptiles, that lived during the Early Cretaceous around 130 million years ago. The first specimen, a partial adult skeleton, was discovered in Speeton, England, in 1958, but was not formally described until 2012 by Valentin Fischer and colleagues. They also recognised a partial subadult skeleton belonging to the genus from Cremlingen, Germany, and specimens from other localities in England. The genus contains the single species Acamptonectes densus; the generic name means "rigid swimmer" and the specific name means "compact" or "tightly packed".
Stenorhynchosaurus is an extinct genus of pliosaurid plesiosaurs which lived in the Early Cretaceous of South America. The type species and only known is Stenorhynchosaurus munozi. It was a medium-sized pliosaur, reaching an adult body length of 7 m (23 ft).
María Euridice Páramo Fonseca is a Colombian paleontologist and geologist. She has contributed to paleontology in Colombia in the fields of describing various Cretaceous reptiles, most notably the mosasaurs Eonatator and Yaguarasaurus, the ichthyosaur Kyhytysuka, and the plesiosaurs Leivanectes and Stenorhynchosaurus.
Leyvachelys is an extinct genus of turtles in the family Sandownidae from the Early Cretaceous of the present-day Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges, Colombian Andes. The genus is known only from its type species, Leyvachelys cipadi, described in 2015 by Colombian paleontologist Edwin Cadena. Fossils of Leyvachelys have been found in the fossiliferous Paja Formation, close to Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, after which the genus is named. The holotype specimen is the oldest and most complete sandownid turtle found to date.
Acostasaurus is an extinct genus of possibly Thalassophonean pliosaurid known from the Barremian of the Paja Formation, Colombia. The type specimen, UNDG R-1000, is known from a near complete skull, and postcranial elements including a complete hindlimb and various vertebrae. The specimen has an estimated size of over 4 metres (13 ft) in length.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2018.
Leivanectes is a genus of plesiosaurs of the family Elasmosauridae known from Late Aptian marine deposits in central Colombia. It contains a single species, L. bernadoi, which was described in 2019.
This list of fossil reptiles described in 2019 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2019, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2019.
This list of fossil reptiles described in 2020 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2020, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2020.
Monquirasaurus is an extinct genus of giant short-necked pliosaurs who lived during the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) in what is now Colombia. One species is known, M. boyacensis, described in 2021 from an almost complete fossil skeleton, discovered in 1977 in the town of Villa de Leyva, located in Boyacá. Published descriptions of the holotype specimen estimate that it should reach a total size approaching 8 m (26 ft) in length, making Monquirasaurus a large representative of the pliosaurids.
Myobradypterygius is an extinct genus of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian-Hauterivian) of Argentina and possibly also Chile. One species is known, M. hauthali, which was once believed to have been a species of Platypterygius.
