In Depth Originally described as a nothosaur, Corosaurus is now identified as a pistosaurid, a kind of sauropterygian reptile that is related to but separate to the true nothosaurs. The pistosauroids are established around the type genus pistosaurus, and it may have been these kinds of marine reptiles that were actually ancestral to the plesiosaurs … Read more
In Depth From the outset the name Cryptoclidus does not sound all that special, but when you translate it to English to mean ‘hidden collarbone’ it raises a few eyebrows. The genus name is actually in reference to the very small clavicle that is buried within the shoulder girdle that controls the front limbs, or … Read more
In Depth Classification and naming history of Rhomaleosaurus The first remains of Rhomaleosaurus were originally named by Alexander Carte and W. H. Bailey as a species of Plesiosaurus, P. cramptoni, which was in honour of Sir Philip Crampton, an anatomist who brought the remains to wider public attention. In 1874 Harry Govier Seeley found the … Read more
In Depth Originally described as a species of Plesiosaurus, this was the first pliosaur ever named which is why Pliosaurus is used as the type genus of the Pliosauridae. Related to the long necked plesiosaurs the pliosaurs adapted to fill a range of different predatory niches with some like Pliosaurus itself being hunters of other … Read more
In Depth In the early days of plesiosaur evolution back in the Jurassic, there were two main groups that were successful enough to become two of the main kinds of marine reptiles of the Mesozoic. These were long necked plesiosaurs such as Plesiosaurus and Cryptoclidus, and short necked pliosaurs (technically a sub group of plesiosaurs) … Read more
In Depth Fossil remains of Stenorhynchosaurus were first discovered in 2000, and later excavation of the fossil site between 2004 and 2005 revealed an almost complete skeleton. Also in 2005, paleontologist Oliver Hempe came to the theory that this pliosaur possibly represented a species of the genus Brachauchenius. Later more detailed study however identified this … Read more
In Depth Nothosaurus is representative of one of the dominant groups of marine reptiles of the Triassic, the other main group being the primitive ichthyosaurs like Cymbospondylus. The nothosaurs are often dubbed the seals of the Triassic because while they were adapted for aquatic life, they still held onto to clear terrestrial adaptations. This would … Read more
In Depth When first named in 1979, Dravidosaurus was described as a stegosaurid dinosaur, and given that the holotype was in a Coniacian of the late Cretaceous aged deposit, possibly the last stegosaur to exist. However, this claim seems to have been made prematurely, as in 1991 a palaeontologist named Sanker Chatterjee visited the site … Read more
In Depth Sachicasaurus is a genus of large brachauchenine pliosaur that lived in waters around South America during the early Cretaceous. Like other similar pliosaurs, Sachicasaurus is noted for having shorter jaws, and hence reduced number of teeth. Further Reading - A new large pliosaurid from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of S�chica, Boyac�, Colombia. Earth … Read more
In Depth Brachauchenius was once regarded as one of the largest pliosaurs, and this was down to the addition of a skull measuring 170 centimetres in length to the genus. However, in 2013 this skull was used to establish a new genus called Megacephalosaurus. This in turn has led to a size revision for Brachauchenius, … Read more