Eromangasaurus
Name:
Eromangasaurus
(Eromanga lizard).
Phonetic: E-roe-man-gah-sore-us.
Named By: Benjamin P. Kear - 2005.
Synonyms: Eromangasaurus carinognathus.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Sauropterygia,
Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae.
Species: E. australis (type).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Uncertain due to incomplete skull material.
Known locations: Australia, Eromanga Basin -
Toolebuc Formation.
Time period: Albian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Complete but crushed skull
and mandible (lower jaw).
Eromangasaurus
was initially known as E. carinognathus, but this
was seen as a synonym
to the second species of Tuarangisaurus
which was also named in 2005.
The material became known as Tuarangisaurus australis
until further
study by Bernjamin P. Kear revealed several key differences. In 2007
Eromangasaurus was resurrected as a distinct genus
but given the
species name E. australis due to it being classed
as Tuarangisaurus
australis. The old species name E. carinognathus
is
now classed as a
synonym even though both species are derived from the same fossil.
Damage to the skull includes what appear to be tooth marks from a
Kronosaurus,
indicating that Eromangasaurus was a prey species
for this and probably other
large pliosaurs.
As
an elasmosaurid plesiosaur, Eromangasaurus would
have had a
proportionately long neck compared to other non-elasmosaurid
plesiosaurs.
This would have given Eromangasaurus a
significant reach
for snapping up fish and squid.
Further reading
- Tuarangisaurus australis sp. nov. (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from
the Lower Cretaceous of Northeastern Queensland, with additional notes
on the phylogeny of the Elasmosauridae. - Memoirs of the Queensland
Museum 50(2):425-440. - S. Sachs - 2005.
- A new elasmosaurid plesiosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of
Queensland, Australia. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25 (4):
792–805.- Benjamin P. Kear - 2005.
- Taxonomic clarification of the Australian elasmosaurid genus
Eromangasaurus, with reference to other austral elasmosaur taxa. -
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (1): 241–246. - Benjamin P. Kear
- 2007.
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