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Megacephalosaurus
''Megacephalosaurus'' (; "great-headed lizard") is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur that inhabited the Western Interior Seaway of North America about 94 to 93 million years ago during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous, containing the single species ''M. eulerti''. It is named after its large head, which is the largest of any plesiosaur in the continent and measures up to in length. ''Megacephalosaurus'' was one of the largest marine reptiles of its time with an estimated length of . Its long snout and consistently sized teeth suggest that it preferred a diet on smaller-sized prey. Remains representing the pliosaur include two fossil skulls, three ribs, and a neural arch. The fossils have been found in deposits of the Carlile Shale and Greenhorn Limestone in Kansas and elsewhere in the midwestern United States. First discovered in 1950, they were originally thought to have been giant fossils of a closely related pliosaur known as '' Brachauchenius lucasi''. But b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megacephalosaurus Eulerti MP
''Megacephalosaurus'' (; "great-headed lizard") is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur that inhabited the Western Interior Seaway of North America about 94 to 93 million years ago during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous, containing the single species ''M. eulerti''. It is named after its large head, which is the largest of any plesiosaur in the continent and measures up to in length. ''Megacephalosaurus'' was one of the largest marine reptiles of its time with an estimated length of . Its long snout and consistently sized teeth suggest that it preferred a diet on smaller-sized prey. Remains representing the pliosaur include two fossil skulls, three ribs, and a neural arch. The fossils have been found in deposits of the Carlile Shale and Greenhorn Limestone in Kansas and elsewhere in the midwestern United States. First discovered in 1950, they were originally thought to have been giant fossils of a closely related pliosaur known as '' Brachauchenius lucasi''. Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megacephalosaurus Skull
''Megacephalosaurus'' (; "great-headed lizard") is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur that inhabited the Western Interior Seaway of North America about 94 to 93 million years ago during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous, containing the single species ''M. eulerti''. It is named after its large head, which is the largest of any plesiosaur in the continent and measures up to in length. ''Megacephalosaurus'' was one of the largest marine reptiles of its time with an estimated length of . Its long snout and consistently sized teeth suggest that it preferred a diet on smaller-sized prey. Remains representing the pliosaur include two fossil skulls, three ribs, and a neural arch. The fossils have been found in deposits of the Carlile Shale and Greenhorn Limestone in Kansas and elsewhere in the midwestern United States. First discovered in 1950, they were originally thought to have been giant fossils of a closely related pliosaur known as '' Brachauchenius lucasi''. Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachauchenius Lucasi
''Brachauchenius'' (meaning 'short neck') is an extinct genus of pliosaurid that lived in North America (United States) and Morocco during the Late Cretaceous. History The type species, ''Brachauchenius lucasi'', lived in the Western Inland Sea of North America around 100.5-89.3 million years ago, from the Cenomonian to the Turonian of the Cretaceous. An older specimen from the Barremian of Colombia was considered as part of this genus, representing the first re-occurrence of the non-rhomaleosaurid pliosaurs after a Berriasian-Hauterivian hiatus.Hampe O. 2005. Considerations on a ''Brachauchenius'' skeleton (Pliosauroidea) from the lower Paja Formation (late Barremian) of Villa de Leyva area (Colombia). ''Fossil Record - Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin'' 8 (1): 37-51. However, subsequent analysis of this Colombian specimen shows that it was enough distinctive to warrant a new genus and species, named as '' Stenorhynchosaurus munozi''. The first know ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachauchenius
''Brachauchenius'' (meaning 'short neck') is an extinct genus of pliosaurid that lived in North America (United States) and Morocco during the Late Cretaceous. History The type species, ''Brachauchenius lucasi'', lived in the Western Inland Sea of North America around 100.5-89.3 million years ago, from the Cenomonian to the Turonian of the Cretaceous. An older specimen from the Barremian of Colombia was considered as part of this genus, representing the first re-occurrence of the non-rhomaleosaurid pliosaurs after a Berriasian-Hauterivian hiatus.Hampe O. 2005. Considerations on a ''Brachauchenius'' skeleton (Pliosauroidea) from the lower Paja Formation (late Barremian) of Villa de Leyva area (Colombia). ''Fossil Record - Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin'' 8 (1): 37-51. However, subsequent analysis of this Colombian specimen shows that it was enough distinctive to warrant a new genus and species, named as '' Stenorhynchosaurus munozi''. The first kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliosaur
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] |
Carlile Formation
The Carlile Shale is a Turonian age Upper/Late Cretaceous series shale geologic formation in the central-western United States, including in the Great Plains region of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Description The formation is composed of marine deposits of the generally retreating phase (hemi-cycle) of the Greenhorn cycle of the Western Interior Seaway, which followed the advancing phase of the same cycle that formed the underlying Graneros Shale and Greenhorn Formation. As such, the lithology progresses from open ocean chalky shale (with thin limestones) to increasing carbonaceous shale to near-shore sandstone. The contact between the Carlile Shale and the overlying Niobrara Formation is marked by an unconformity in much of the outcrop area, but where an unconformity is not discernible, the boundary is typically placed at the first resistant, fine-grained limestone bed at the base of the Niobrara Formation. Fossil content ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liopleurodon
''Liopleurodon'' (; meaning 'smooth-sided teeth') is an extinct genus of large, carnivorous marine reptile belonging to the Thalassophonea, a clade of short-necked pliosaurid plesiosaurs. ''Liopleurodon'' lived from the Callovian Stage of the Middle Jurassic to the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic Period (c. 166 to 155 mya). It was the apex predator of the Middle to Late Jurassic seas that covered Europe. The largest species, ''L. ferox'', is estimated to have grown up to in length, but could have been larger. The name "Liopleurodon" (meaning "smooth-sided tooth") derives from Ancient Greek words: ', "smooth"; ', "side" or "rib"; and ', "tooth". Discovery and species Even before ''Liopleurodon'' was named, material likely belonging to it was described. In 1841, Hermann von Meyer named the species ''Thaumatosaurus oolithicus'' based on a fragmentary specimen consisting of partial teeth, skull elements, vertebrae, and ribs from deposits in Württemberg, Germany poss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kronosaurus
''Kronosaurus'' ( ; meaning "lizard of Kronos") is a potentially dubious genus of extinct short-necked pliosaur. With an estimated length of , it was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Kronos. It lived in the Early Cretaceous period (Aptian to Late Albian).Hampe O. 1992. Ein großwüchsiger Pliosauride (Reptilia: Plesiosauria) aus der Unterkreide (oberes Aptium) von Kolumbien. ''Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg'' 145: 1–32.Kear BP. 2003Cretaceous marine reptiles of Australia: a review of taxonomy and distribution ''Cretaceous Research'' 24: 277–303. Fossil material has been recovered from the Toolebuc Formation (middle to late Albian) and Wallumbilla Formations (Aptian) of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. Discovery In 1899, Andrew Crombie of Hughenden discovered a "scrap of bone" containing six conical teeth, and gave this fragmentary fossil to the Queensland Museum. Twenty-five years later, then-director He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2013 In Paleontology
Plants Cnidarians Arthropods Bryozoans Brachiopods Molluscs Echinoderms Conodonts Fishes Amphibians Research * Laloy ''et al.'' (2013) reinterpret the Eocene frog species ''Rana cadurcorum'' from the Quercy Phosphorites (France) as a junior synonym of '' Thaumastosaurus gezei''. Newly named temnospondyls Newly named lepospondyls Newly named lissamphibians Turtles Research * A study on the anatomy of the brain and inner ear of the Jurassic turtle ''Plesiochelys etalloni'' is published by Paulina Carabajal ''et al.'' (2013). Newly named turtles Thalattosaurs Ichthyopterygians Lepidosauromorphs Newly named sauropterygians Newly named rhynchocephalians Newly named lizards Newly named snakes Archosauromorphs Newly named basal archosauromorphs Archosaurs Other reptiles Synapsids Non-mammalian synapsids Research * The postcranial skeleton of therocephalian '' Ictidosuchoides'' is described by Heidi Fourie (2013). New taxa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiosaur
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 valid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pliosaurus
''Pliosaurus'' (meaning 'more lizard') is an extinct genus of thalassophonean pliosaurid known from the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages (Late Jurassic) of Europe and South America. Their diet would have included fish, cephalopods, and marine reptiles. This genus has contained many species in the past but recent reviews found only six (''P. brachydeirus'', ''P. carpenteri'', ''P. funkei'', ''P. kevani'', ''P. rossicus'' and ''P. westburyensis'') to be valid, while the validity of two additional species awaits a petition to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Currently, ''P. brachyspondylus'' and ''P. macromerus'' are considered dubious, while ''P. portentificus'' is considered undiagnostic. Most species of ''Pliosaurus'' reached in length and in body mass, while ''P. rossicus'' and ''P. funkei'' may have reached or even exceeded in length and in body mass, being the largest plesiosaurs of all time. Species of this genus are differentiated from other pliosaurids ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acostasaurus
''Acostasaurus'' (meaning "Acosta's lizard") 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.Marcela Gómez Pérez; Leslie F. Noè (2017). "Cranial anatomy of a new pliosaurid ''Acostasaurus pavachoquensis'' from the Lower Cretaceous of Colombia, South America". Palaeontographica Abteilung A. 310 (1–2): 5–42. . The specimen has an estimated size of over in length and in body mass. Description The type specimen is noted for possessing several features that pertain to a sub adult individual: for example, the sagittal crest is not fully ossified, as well as possessing undeveloped palatine wings. It is possible however that ''Acostasaurus'', like other plesiosaurs, was paedomorphic. From what is preserved, the orbits are large, rounded and deeply notched dorsally. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
