| Uronautes Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | † Sauropterygia |
| Order: | † Plesiosauria |
| Genus: | † Uronautes Cope, 1876 |
| Type species | |
| †Uronautes cetiformis Cope, 1877 | |
Uronautes is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous Fox Hills Formation of the United States. The type species is U. cetiformis. [1]
The holotype, AMNH 5688, consists of several fossilized vertebra, portions of a few limbs, and ribs. [1] [2]
Uronautes cetiformis was first described by the American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1876. [1] Welles (1956) described the genus as a "nomen dubium", doubting that the remains were evidence of a true genus. [3]
The word Uronautes comes from a fusion of the two Greek words Ουρα, meaning "tailed," and Ναυτεσ, meaning "sailor", or "mariner". [4] The species name of U. cetiformis comes from the Greek word for whale (or any large sea monster), κῆτος and the Latin word forma, which means "shaped", of "formed" meaning "shape". [5]
Like many other rhomaleosaurids, Uronautes was a short-necked plesiosaur. The cervical vertebrae are short, with partially attached processes and double-headed ribs. [6]
Plesiosaurus is a genus of extinct, large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the Early Jurassic. It is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England. It is distinguishable by its small head, long and slender neck, broad turtle-like body, a short tail, and two pairs of large, elongated paddles. It lends its name to the order Plesiosauria, of which it is an early, but fairly typical member. It contains only one species, the type, Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus. Other species once assigned to this genus, including P. brachypterygius, P. guilielmiimperatoris, and P. tournemirensis have been reassigned to new genera, such as Hydrorion, Seeleyosaurus and Occitanosaurus.
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.
The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia.
Diadectes is an extinct genus of large reptiliomorphs or synapsids that lived during the early Permian period. Diadectes was one of the first herbivorous tetrapods, and also one of the first fully terrestrial vertebrates to attain large size.
Zapsalis is a genus of dromaeosaurine theropod dinosaurs. It is a tooth taxon, often considered dubious because of the fragmentary nature of the fossils, which include teeth but no other remains.
Paronychodon was a theropod dinosaur genus. It is a tooth taxon, often considered dubious because of the fragmentary nature of the fossils, which include "buckets" of teeth from many disparate times and places but no other remains, and should be considered a form taxon.
Diplotomodon is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur, from New Jersey. It was possibly a member of the Tyrannosauroidea, the clade that also contains Tyrannosaurus.
Muraenosaurus is an extinct genus of cryptoclidid plesiosaur reptile from the Oxford Clay of Southern England. The genus was given its name due to the eel-like appearance of the long neck and small head. Muraenosaurus grew up to 5.2 metres (17 ft) in length and lived roughly between 160 Ma and 164 Ma in the Callovian of the middle Jurassic. Charles E. Leeds collected the first Muraenosaurus which was then described by H. G. Seeley. The specimen may have suffered some damage due to the casual style of Charles Leeds’ collection. The first muraenosaur was recovered with pieces missing from the skull and many of the caudal vertebrae absent. Because the animal was described from Charles Leeds’ collection it was given the name Muraenosaurus Leedsi. M. leedsi is the most complete specimen belonging to the genus Muraenosaurus and also the only species that is undoubtedly a member of the genus. Two other species have been tentatively referred to as members of the genus Muraenosaurus: M. reedii and Muraenosaurus beloclis Seeley 1892, which in 1910 became the separate genus Picrocleidus.
Protosphyraena is a fossil genus of swordfish-like marine fish, that thrived worldwide during the Cretaceous period (Albian-Maastrichtian). Fossil remains of this taxon are mainly discovered in North America and Europe, and potential specimens are also known from Asia, Africa and Australia. Its fossils are best known from the Smoky Hill Member of the Niobrara Chalk Formation of Kansas.
Rhomaleosaurus is an extinct genus of Early Jurassic rhomaleosaurid pliosauroid known from Northamptonshire and from Yorkshire of the United Kingdom. It was first named by Harry Seeley in 1874 and the type species is Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni. It was one of the earliest large marine reptile predators which hunted in the seas of Mesozoic era, measuring about 7 metres (23 ft) long. Like other pliosaurs, Rhomaleosaurus fed on ichthyosaurs, ammonites and other plesiosaurs.
Brachauchenius is an extinct genus of pliosaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what are now North America and North Africa. Only one species is known, B. lucasi, initially described by Samuel Wendell Williston in 1903 from a partial fossil skeleton discovered in a quarry in Kansas, United States. Many other fossil specimens attributed to the species were subsequently discovered, including an individual from Morocco whose presence was made official in 2016. Many contemporary pliosaur specimens were formerly attributed to Brachauchenius, but have since been reidentified as belonging to other genera or are recognized as indeterminate.
Leptocleidus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur, belonging to the family Leptocleididae. It was a small plesiosaur, measuring only up to 3 m (9.8 ft).
Leurospondylus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Canada whose family is currently disputed, but is suggested to be Elasmosauridae.
Bathyspondylus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation of Swindon, England. Because it is known only from its fossil vertebrae, paleontologists are not entirely sure of the taxonomy of Bathyspondylus; the family it belongs to is not currently known. The type, and only known, species is B. swindoniensis, which was described from the same material as its genus.
Eretmosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Early and Middle Jurassic of England and Russia. Two species are known: E. rugosus and E. dubius.
Sthenarosaurus is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid pliosauroid discovered in the Toarcian-aged 'Main Alum Shale' in Whitby, England. The type species, Sthenarosaurus dawkinsi, was named and described in 1909 by D. M. S. Watson. The type specimen is MMUM LL 8023, a set of postcrania discovered in Whitby. Other indeterminate specimens are known, including a pectoral girdle described in 1911. Plesiosaurian fossils were acquired for the Manchester Museum by William Boyd Dawkins who is honoured by the specific name.
Largocephalosaurus is an extinct genus of basal saurosphargid, a marine reptile known from the Middle Triassic Guanling Formation of Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces, southwestern China. It contains a type species, Largocephalosaurus polycarpon, and a second species L. qianensis.
Avalonnectes is an extinct genus of small-bodied rhomaleosaurid known from the Early Jurassic period of the United Kingdom. It contains a single species, A. arturi.
Stratesaurus is an extinct genus of small-bodied rhomaleosaurid plesiosaur known from the Early Jurassic period of the United Kingdom. It contains a single species, S. taylori. It was a small plesiosaur, with a skull length of 18 cm (7.1 in) and a body length of 2 m (6.6 ft).
Atychodracon is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurian known from the Late Triassic - Early Jurassic boundary of England. It contains a single species, Atychodracon megacephalus, named in 1846 originally as a species of Plesiosaurus. The holotype of "P." megacephalus was destroyed during a World War II air raid in 1940 and was later replaced with a neotype. The species had a very unstable taxonomic history, being referred to four different genera by various authors until a new genus name was created for it in 2015. Apart from the destroyed holotype and its three partial casts, a neotype and two additional individuals are currently referred to Atychodracon megacephalus, making it a relatively well represented rhomaleosaurid.
