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Pliosauroidea is an
extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
of
plesiosaurs 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 ...
, known from the earliest
Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...
to early Late
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
. They are best known for the subclade
Thalassophonea Thalassophonea is an extinct clade of pliosaurids from the Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous (Callovian to Turonian) of Australia, Europe, North America and South America. ''Thalassophonea'' was erected by Roger Benson and Patrick D ...
, which contained
crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
-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 Pliosauridae is a family of plesiosaurian marine reptiles from the Latest Triassic to the early Late Cretaceous ( Rhaetian to Turonian stages) of Australia, Europe, North America and South America. The family is more inclusive than the archetypa ...
, of the order
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 appeare ...
, 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 A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...
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 Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...
,
sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...
,
ichthyosaur Ichthyosaurs (Ancient Greek for "fish lizard" – and ) are large extinct marine reptiles. Ichthyosaurs belong to the order known as Ichthyosauria or Ichthyopterygia ('fish flippers' – a designation introduced by Sir Richard Owen in 1842, altho ...
s,
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s and other plesiosaurs. The largest known species are ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Pliosaurus macromerus ''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 re ...
''; other well known genera include ''
Rhomaleosaurus ''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 ...
'', ''
Peloneustes ''Peloneustes'' (meaning "mud swimmer") is a genus of pliosaurid plesiosaur from the Middle Jurassic of England. Its remains are known from the Peterborough Member of the Oxford Clay Formation, which is Callovian in age. It was originally descri ...
'', and ''
Macroplata ''Macroplata'' (meaning "big plate") is an extinct genus of Early Jurassic rhomaleosaurid plesiosaur which grew up to in length and weighed up to . Like other plesiosaurs, ''Macroplata'' probably lived on a diet of fish, using its sharp needle-l ...
''.Low resolusion pdfHigh resolusion pdf
/ref> Fossil specimens have been found in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
,
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
,
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
and
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. Many very early (from the
Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...
and possibly Latest
Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
, i.e.
Rhaetian The Rhaetian is the latest age of the Triassic Period (in geochronology) or the uppermost stage of the Triassic System (in chronostratigraphy). It was preceded by the Norian and succeeded by the Hettangian (the lowermost stage or earliest age ...
) primitive pliosauroids were very like
plesiosauroid Plesiosauroidea (; Greek: 'near, close to' and 'lizard') is an extinct clade of carnivorous marine reptiles. They have the snake-like longest neck to body ratio of any reptile. Plesiosauroids are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous period ...
s in appearance and, indeed, used to be included in the family
Plesiosauridae The Plesiosauridae are a monophyletic group of plesiosaurs.Ketchum, H. F., and Benson, R. B. J., 2010. "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylo ...
.


Name

Pliosauroidea was named by Welles in 1943. It is adapted from the name of the genus ''
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 re ...
'', which is derived from the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(), meaning "more/closely", and () meaning "lizard"; it therefore means "more
sauria Sauria is the clade containing the most recent common ancestor of archosaurs (such as crocodilians, dinosaurs, etc.) and lepidosaurs ( lizards and kin), and all its descendants. Since most molecular phylogenies recover turtles as more closely re ...
n". The name ''Pliosaurus'' was coined in 1841 by
Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils. Owe ...
, who believed that it represented a link between plesiosauroids and
crocodilian Crocodilia (or Crocodylia, both ) is an order of mostly large, predatory, semiaquatic reptiles, known as crocodilians. They first appeared 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period ( Cenomanian stage) and are the closest living ...
s (considered a type of "saurian"), particularly due to their crocodile-like teeth.


Classification


Taxonomy

The taxonomy presented here is mainly based on the plesiosaur cladistic analysis proposed by Hilary F. Ketchum and Roger B. J. Benson, 2011 unless otherwise noted. *Suborder Pliosauroidea **? ''
Eurysaurus ''Eurysaurus'' (meaning "wide lizard") is an extinct genus of plesiosaur, originally classed as a nothosaur, from the Early Jurassic of Echenoz-la-Meline, France, named in 1878. The type material, consisting of a cranium, teeth and five verte ...
'' **? ''
Sinopliosaurus ''Sinopliosaurus'' (meaning "Chinese more lizard"; in reference to ''Pliosaurus'') is a genus of pliosauroid plesiosaur, a type of short-necked marine reptile, alive during the Aptian and Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous (disputed ''Sinoplio ...
'' **Family
Rhomaleosauridae 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 sp ...
*** ''
Archaeonectrus ''Archaeonectrus'' is an extinction, extinct genus of pliosaur from the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian) of what is now southeastern England. The type species is ''Archaeonectrus'' (originally ''"Plesiosaurus"'') ''rostratus'', first named by Sir Rich ...
'' *** '' Borealonectes'' ***? '' Bishanopliosaurus'' *** ''
Eurycleidus ''Eurycleidus'' is an extinct genus of large-bodied rhomaleosaurid known from the Early Jurassic period (most likely earliest Hettangian stage) of the United Kingdom. It contains a single species, ''E. arcuatus''. Like other plesiosaurs, ''Euryc ...
'' *** ''
Macroplata ''Macroplata'' (meaning "big plate") is an extinct genus of Early Jurassic rhomaleosaurid plesiosaur which grew up to in length and weighed up to . Like other plesiosaurs, ''Macroplata'' probably lived on a diet of fish, using its sharp needle-l ...
'' *** ''
Maresaurus ''Maresaurus'' is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Middle Jurassic (Bajocian) Los Molles Formation of Argentina. The type species, ''Maresaurus coccai'', was named by Gasparini in 1997. Recent phylogenetic analysis found ''Maresaurus'' to ...
'' *** ''
Rhomaleosaurus ''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 ...
'' *** ''
Meyerasaurus ''Meyerasaurus'' is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid known from Holzmaden, Baden-Württemberg of southwestern Germany. Description ''Meyerasaurus'' is known from the holotype SMNS 12478, articulated and complete skeleton which preserv ...
'' *** ''
Sthenarosaurus ''Sthenarosaurus'' (meaning "strong lizard") is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid pliosauroid discovered in the Toarcian-aged ' Main Alum Shale' (Commune subzone of Bifrons zone)Sepkoski, JacSepkoski's Online Genus Database – Cephalopoda/ref> ...
'' ***? '' Yuzhoupliosaurus'' **Family
Pliosauridae Pliosauridae is a family of plesiosaurian marine reptiles from the Latest Triassic to the early Late Cretaceous ( Rhaetian to Turonian stages) of Australia, Europe, North America and South America. The family is more inclusive than the archetypa ...
*** ''
Anguanax ''Anguanax'' is an extinct genus of basal pliosaurid known from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian stage) Rosso Ammonitico Veronese Formation of northern Italy. It contains a single species, ''Anguanax zignoi'', known from a partially complete ...
'' *** ''
Attenborosaurus ''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. History The original re ...
'' *** '' Gallardosaurus'' *** ''
Hauffiosaurus ''Hauffiosaurus'' is an extinct genus of Early Jurassic (early Toarcian stage) pliosaurid plesiosaur known from Holzmaden of Germany and from Yorkshire of the United Kingdom. It was first named by Frank Robin O’Keefe in 2001 and the type spe ...
'' *** ''
Marmornectes ''Marmornectes'' is a genus of pliosaurid known from the Middle Jurassic of Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. Description ''Marmornectes'' is known from the holotype BEDFM 1999.201, an articulated partial skeleton which includes the skull. I ...
'' *** ''
Megalneusaurus ''Megalneusaurus'' is an extinct genus of large pliosaur that lived in the Sundance Sea during the Kimmeridgian, ~156-152 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic. It was named by paleontologist W. C. Knight in 1895. The genus and type species wa ...
'' *** ''
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 Mi ...
'' *** '' Eardasaurus'' *** ''
Pachycostasaurus ''Pachycostasaurus'' (meaning 'thick-ribbed lizard') is an extinct Pliosauroid from the Oxford Clay formation of Peterborough, England. History and naming The holotype fossil of Pachycostasaurus was discovered by Alan Dawn, an amateur geologis ...
'' *** ''
Peloneustes ''Peloneustes'' (meaning "mud swimmer") is a genus of pliosaurid plesiosaur from the Middle Jurassic of England. Its remains are known from the Peterborough Member of the Oxford Clay Formation, which is Callovian in age. It was originally descri ...
'' *** ''
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 re ...
'' *** ''
Rhaeticosaurus ''Rhaeticosaurus'' (meaning 'Rhaetian lizard') is an extinct genus of basal pliosauroid from the Late Triassic (Rhaetian) rocks of the Exter Formation The Exter Formation is the only formation of the Upper Keuper or Rhätsandstein, and is a ge ...
'' *** '' Simolestes'' *** ''
Thalassiodracon ''Thalassiodracon'' (tha-LAS-ee-o-DRAY-kon) is an extinct genus of plesiosauroid from the Pliosauridae that was alive during the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic (Rhaetian-Hettangian) and is known exclusively from the Lower Lias of England. The t ...
'' ***Subfamily Brachaucheninae **** ''
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 S ...
'' **** ''
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 ...
'' **** ''
Makhaira The makhaira is a type of Ancient Greek bladed weapon, generally a large knife or sword with a single cutting edge. Terminology The Greek word μάχαιρα (''mákhaira'', plural ''mákhairai''), also transliterated ''machaira'' or ''mac ...
'' **** ''
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, containin ...
'' **** ''
Polyptychodon ''Polyptychodon'' (meaning 'shaped fin tooth') is a genus of pliosaurid found in Middle-Late Cretaceous marine deposits in southern England, France and Argentina. It has been considered a '' nomen dubium'' in a 2016 review. History of discovery ...
'' **** ''
Sachicasaurus ''Sachicasaurus'' is an extinct genus of brachauchenine pliosaurid known from the Barremian of the Paja Formation, Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Colombian Cordillera Oriental (Colombia), Eastern Ranges of the Andes. The type species is ''S. vit ...
'' **** ''
Monquirasaurus ''Monquirasaurus'' is a monotypic genus of giant pliosaurid from the Cretaceous Paja Formation in Colombia. It contains a single species, ''M. boyacensis'', previously known as ''Kronosaurus boyacensis''. History and naming The holotype and only ...
'' **** ''
Stenorhynchosaurus ''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 l ...
'' **** ''
Luskhan ''Luskhan'' (meaning "water spirit chief") is an extinct genus of brachauchenine pliosaur from the Cretaceous of Russia. The type and only species is ''Luskhan itilensis'', named by Valentin Fischer and colleagues in 2017 from a well-preserved ...
''


Phylogeny

Pliosauroidea is a
stem-based taxon Phylogenetic nomenclature is a method of nomenclature for taxa in biology that uses phylogenetic definitions for taxon names as explained below. This contrasts with the traditional approach, in which taxon names are defined by a '' type'', which ...
that was defined by Welles as "all taxa more closely related to ''
Pliosaurus brachydeirus ''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 re ...
'' than to ''
Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus ''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 of England. It is distinguishable by ...
''". Pliosauridae and Rhomaleosauridae are stem-based taxa too. Pliosauridae is defined as "all taxa more closely related to ''Pliosaurus brachydeirus'' than to '' Leptocleidus superstes'', '' Polycotylus latipinnis'' or ''
Meyerasaurus victor ''Meyerasaurus'' is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid known from Holzmaden, Baden-Württemberg of southwestern Germany. Description ''Meyerasaurus'' is known from the holotype SMNS 12478, articulated and complete skeleton which preserv ...
''". Rhomaleosauridae is defined as "all taxa more closely related to ''Meyerasaurus victor'' than to ''Leptocleidus superstes'', ''Pliosaurus brachydeirus'' or ''Polycotylus latipinnis''". The
cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...
below follows a 2011 analysis by paleontologists Hilary F. Ketchum and Roger B. J. Benson, and reduced to genera only.


Large pliosauroids

In 2002, the discovery of a very large pliosauroid was announced in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. This pliosauroid came to be known as the "
Monster of Aramberri The "monster of Aramberri" is the name that was given to the fossil remains of a huge marine reptile, a giant carnivore belonging to the Pliosauroidea clade that was found in sediments of the La Caja Formation in Aramberri, Nuevo León, Aramberri, N ...
". Although widely reported as such, it does not belong to the genus ''Liopleurodon''. The remains of this animal, consisting of a partial vertebral column, were dated to the
Kimmeridgian In the geologic timescale, the Kimmeridgian is an age in the Late Jurassic Epoch and a stage in the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 157.3 ± 1.0 Ma and 152.1 ± 0.9 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian follows the Oxfordian ...
of the La Caja Formation. The fossils were found much earlier, in 1985, by a geology student and were at first erroneously attributed to a
theropod Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
by Hahnel. The remains originally contained part of a rostrum with teeth (now lost). In August 2006, palaeontologists of the
University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
discovered the first remains of a pliosaur on Norwegian soil. The remains were described as "very well preserved, as well as being unique in their completeness". The large animal was determined to be a new species of ''
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 re ...
''. In the summer of 2008, the fossil remains of the huge pliosaur were dug up from the permafrost on
Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
, a Norwegian island close to the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
. The excavation of the find is documented in the 2009
History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
television special
Predator X ''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 re ...
. On 26 October 2009, palaeontologists reported the discovery of potentially the largest pliosauroid yet found. Found in cliffs near Weymouth,
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, on Britain's
Jurassic Coast The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about , and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-December ...
, the fossil had a skull length of . Palaeontologist Richard Forrest told the BBC: "I had heard rumours that something big was turning up. But seeing this thing in the flesh, so to speak, is just jaw dropping. It is simply enormous." It was determined that the specimen belonged to a new species that scientists named ''Pliosaurus kevani''.


References


External links


The Plesiosaur Directory - pliosaur page

Large pliosaur from the Jurassic Coast, Dorset - BBC News

Dorset pliosaur skull after conservation - video. BBC July 2011


{{Taxonbar, from=Q843192 Plesiosaurs Hettangian first appearances Cenomanian extinctions