Name:
Eoplesiosaurus
(Dawn Plesiosaurus).
Phonetic: E-oh-ples-e-o-sore-us
Named By: Roger B. J. Benson, Mark Evans
& Patrick S. Druckenmiller - 2012.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria.
Species: E. antiquior (type).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: About 3 meters long.
Known locations: England - Blue Lias Formation.
Time period: Hettangian? of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skeleton,
lacking the skull.
Eoplesiosaurus was so named for its earlier appearance in the Jurassic that the far more famous Plesiosaurus. Eoplesiosaurus was still small when compared to the plesiosaurs that appeared later in the Jurassic, though it is noted as having a proportionately long neck when compared to some other genera.
Further reading
- High Diversity, Low Disparity and Small Body Size in Plesiosaurs
(Reptilia, Sauropterygia) from the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary -
PLoS ONE 7 (3): e31838 - Roger B. J. Benson, Mark
Evans & Patrick S. Druckenmiller - 2012.