In Depth Muraenosaurus was a Jurassic era plesiosaur similar to the much more famous Plesiosaurus, although Muraenosaurus actually seems to have had a proportionately longer neck. This is likely an adaptation that would have helped it to catch fish. It’s probable however that Muraenosaurus itself was targeted by large Jurassic era pliosaurs such as Liopleurodon, … Read more
In Depth The type genus of the Pachypleurosauria, Pachypleurosaurus would have been a relative of the more famous nothosaurs, yet still be distinct enough to not be classed as a nothosaurine. It should be remembered however that both nothosaurines and pachypleurosaurines are still both classified as nothosauroids due to their physical similarities. The name Pachypleurosaurus … Read more
In Depth Pantosaurus was originally described as Parasaurus, however this name had already been used to name a genus of Pareiasaur. Pantosaurus is a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the late Jurassic. Pantosaurus has been noted as having a strong similarity to Muraenosaurus which is known from England and France, though … Read more
In Depth Although not as well-known as its more famous relative Dolichorhynchops, Trinacromerum remains one of the best represented polycotylid plesiosaurs in the fossil record. Like its relatives, Trinacromerum was a plesiosaur but one with a much shorter neck and elongated jaws filled with thin needle like teeth. Living in the Western Interior Seaway of … Read more
In Depth Brancasaurus is a genus of small plesiosaur that lived in the waters of Europe during the early Cretaceous. Because the holotype individual of Brancasaurus was fairly small, most of the skeleton has been recovered, and Brancasaurus is known as one of the most complete individual plesiosaurs ever recovered. Further Reading - Brancasaurus brancai … Read more
In Depth A relatively small and unassuming pliosaur, Peloneustes shows a dental specialisation where the teeth were not as sharp as other presumably piscivorous (fish eating) marine reptiles. The blunter teeth would have instead been better suited for cracking the shells of cephalopods like belemnites and ammonites so that Peloneustes could easily eat the soft … Read more
In Depth The genus name of Gallardosaurus is in honour of Juan Gallardo, the farmer who first discovered the remains in 1946. Despite the remains being discovered at this time, they were left unprepared for proper study, even in 1996 when Gallardosaurus was thought to possibly represent another specimen of Pliosaurus. When the remains were … Read more
In Depth Polyptychodon has been considered to be a dubious genus of pliosaur by some considering that it is based upon only teeth and vertebrae. Despite this two species are recognised, The first and type species, being named in 1841 and based upon teeth and vertebrae from England and France that are Aptian in Age. … Read more
In Depth Not a lot is known about Anarosaurus due to the very fragmentary remains that are all we currently have. What can be ascertained from the remains however is that Anarosaurus was a pachypleurosaur, small reptiles that in appearance looked somewhere between terrestrial lizards and fully aquatic plesiosaurs. With this in mind Anarosaurus would … Read more
In Depth Stratesaurus represents a genus of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaur, a type of plesiosaur noted for having a shorter neck and proportionately larger head than other plesiosaurs, though not to the extent of pliosaurs. The discovery of Stratesaurus in Hettangian aged rocks means that individual Stratesaurus were swimming in European waters near the Triassic/Jurassic boundary, which … Read more