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Atychodracon
''Atychodracon'' is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurian known from the Late Triassic - Early Jurassic boundary (probably early Hettangian stage) 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 (that survived), a neotype and two additional individuals are currently referred to ''Atychodracon megacephalus'', making it a relatively well represented rhomaleosaurid. History of discovery The type species of ''Atychodracon'' was first described and named by Samuel Stutchbury in January 1846, as a species of the wastebasket taxon ''Plesiosauru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thaumatosaurus
''Rhomaleosaurus'' (meaning "strong lizard") is an extinct genus of Early Jurassic (Toarcian age, about 183 to 175.6 million years ago) 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, with the type species ''R. cramptoni'' measuring long and weighing . Like other pliosaurs, ''Rhomaleosaurus'' fed on ichthyosaurs, ammonites and other plesiosaurs. Species ''R. cramptoni'' In July 1848, a fossil of a large plesiosaur was unearthed in an Alum quarry at Kettleness, near Whitby, in Yorkshire, England. It was collected from the ''A. bifrons'' ammonite zone of the Whitby Mudstone Formation, dating to the early Toarcian age, about 183 to 180 million years ago. The complete skeleton which preserved the skull, NMING F8785, was kept for five ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhomaleosaurid
Rhomaleosauridae is a family of plesiosaurs from the Earliest Jurassic to the latest Middle Jurassic ( Hettangian to Callovian stages) of Europe, North America, South America and possibly Asia. Most rhomaleosaurids are known from England, many specifically from lower Blue Lias deposits that date back to the earliest Jurassic, just at the boundary with the Triassic. In fact, to date only two undisputed rhomaleosaurids were named from outside Europe - the closely related '' Borealonectes russelli'' and ''Maresaurus coccai'' from Canada and Argentina, respectively. These two species are also the only Middle Jurassic representatives of the family. Rhomaleosauridae was formally named by Kuhn in 1961, originally proposed to include ''Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni'' and its relatives, which have short necks and large heads relatively to plesiosauroids like ''Elasmosaurus'' and ''Plesiosaurus'', but longer necks and smaller heads relatively to advanced pliosaurids like ''Pliosaurus'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1846 In Paleontology ...
Archosauromorphs New taxa Pterosaurs New taxa Sauropterygians Newly named plesiosaurs References {{Reflist 1840s in paleontology Paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiosaurus
''Plesiosaurus'' (Greek: ' ('), near to + ' ('), lizard) 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 Group, 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 species, 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''. Discovery The first complete skeleton of ''Plesiosaurus'' was discovered by early paleontologist and fossil hunter Mary Anning in Sinemurian (Early Jurassic)-age rocks of the lower Lias Group in Dec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Lias Formation
The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassic times, between 195 and 200 million years ago. The Blue Lias is famous for its fossils, especially ammonites. Its age corresponds to the Rhaetian to lower Sinemurian stages of the geological timescale, thus fully including the Hettangian stage. It is the lowest of the three divisions of the Lower Jurassic period and, as such, is also given the name ''Lower Lias''. Stratigraphically it can be subdivided into three members: the Wilmcote Limestone, Saltford Shale and Rugby Limestone. Lithology and facies The Blue Lias comprises decimetre scale alternations of argillaceous limestone and mudstone. These alternations are caused by short-term climatic variations during the Early Jurassic attributed to orbital forcing (Milankovitch cycles). The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiosauria
The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period, possibly in the Rhaetian stage, about 203 million years ago. They became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until their disappearance due to the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period, about 66 million years ago. They had a worldwide oceanic distribution, and some species at least partly inhabited freshwater environments. Plesiosaurs were among the first fossil reptiles discovered. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, scientists realised how distinctive their build was and they were named as a separate order in 1835. The first plesiosaurian genus, the eponymous ''Plesiosaurus'', was named in 1821. Since then, more than a hundred vali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliosauroid
Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of plesiosaurs, known from the earliest Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous. They are best known for the subclade Thalassophonea, which contained crocodile-like short-necked forms with large heads and massive toothed jaws, commonly known as pliosaurs. More primitive non-thalassophonean pliosauroids resembled pleisiosaurs in possessing relatively long necks and smaller heads. They originally included only members of the family Pliosauridae, of the order Plesiosauria, but several other genera and families are now also included, the number and details of which vary according to the classification used. The distinguishing characteristics are a short neck and an elongated head, with larger hind flippers compared to the fore flippers, the opposite of the plesiosaurs. They were carnivorous and their long and powerful jaws carried many sharp, conical teeth. Pliosaurs range from 4 to 15 metres and more in length. Their prey may have included fish, sharks, i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch (geology), epoch of the Triassic geologic time scale, Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between annum, Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. The corresponding series (stratigraphy), series of rock beds is known as the Upper Triassic. The Late Triassic is divided into the Carnian, Norian and Rhaetian Geologic time scale, Ages. Many of the first dinosaurs evolved during the Late Triassic, including ''Plateosaurus'', ''Coelophysis'', and ''Eoraptor''. The Triassic–Jurassic extinction event began during this epoch and is one of the five major mass extinction events of the Earth. Etymology The Triassic was named in 1834 by Friedrich August von Namoh, Friedrich von Alberti, after a succession of three distinct rock layers (Greek meaning 'triad') that are widespread in southern Germany: the lower Buntsandstein (colourful sandstone'')'', t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Seeley
Harry Govier Seeley (18 February 1839 – 8 January 1909) was a British paleontologist. Early life Seeley was born in London on 18 February 1839, the second son of Richard Hovill Seeley, a goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. When his father was declared bankrupt, Seeley was sent to live with a family of piano makers. Between the ages of eleven and fourteen, he went to a day school and then spent the next two years learning to make pianos. He also attended lectures at the Royal School of Mines by Thomas Henry Huxley, Edward Forbes, and other notable scientists. In 1855, with the support of his uncle, Seeley began to study law but shortly gave it up to pursue a career as an actuary. In the late 1850s, he studied English and mathematics at the Working Men's College and served as a secretary for the college's museum. He also worked in the library of the British Museum, where Samuel Pickworth Woodward encouraged him to study geology. In 1859, Seeley began studies at Sidney Su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept. For example, the holotype for the butterfly '' Plebejus idas longinus'' is a preserved specimen of that subspecies, held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. In botany, an isotype is a duplicate of the holotype, where holotype and isotypes are often pieces from the same individual plant or samples from the same gathering. A holotype is not necessarily "typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower Jaw
In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone of the skull (discounting the ossicles of the middle ear). It is connected to the temporal bones by the temporomandibular joints. The bone is formed in the fetus from a fusion of the left and right mandibular prominences, and the point where these sides join, the mandibular symphysis, is still visible as a faint ridge in the midline. Like other symphyses in the body, this is a midline articulation where the bones are joined by fibrocartilage, but this articulation fuses together in early childhood.Illustrated Anatomy of the Head and Neck, Fehrenbach and Herring, Elsevier, 2012, p. 59 The word "mandible" derives from the Latin word ''mandibula'', "jawbone" (literally "one used for chewing"), from '' mandere'' "to chew" and ''-bula'' (ins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeleton
A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body, and the hydroskeleton, a flexible internal skeleton supported by fluid pressure. Vertebrates are animals with a vertebral column, and their skeletons are typically composed of bone and cartilage. Invertebrates are animals that lack a vertebral column. The skeletons of invertebrates vary, including hard exoskeleton shells, plated endoskeletons, or Sponge spicule, spicules. Cartilage is a rigid connective tissue that is found in the skeletal systems of vertebrates and invertebrates. Etymology The term ''skeleton'' comes . ''Sceleton'' is an archaic form of the word. Classification Skeletons can be defined by several attributes. Solid skeletons consist of hard substances, such as bone, cartilage, or cuticle. These can be further ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
