Hauffiosaurus
Name:
Hauffiosaurus
(Hauff lizard - Named after the Hauff Museum).
Phonetic: Hawf-fe-oh-sore-us.
Named By: F. R. O’Keefe - 2001.
Synonyms: Macroplata longirostris,
Plesiosaurus longirostris, Rhomaleosaurus longirostris.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Plesioasuria, Pliosauria.
Species: H. zanoni (type),
H. longirostris, H. tomistomimus.
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Depends upon species. H. zanoni about
3.4 meters long, H. tomistomimus comfirmed to reach at least
4.83 meters long.
Known locations: England - Whitby Mudstone
Formation. Germany - Posidonia Shale Formation.
Time period: Toarcian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Several individuals, some
almost complete.
The exact classification of Hauffiosaurus can vary depending upon the source, though most researchers concede that it is almost certainly a pliosaur. Further to this, specimens of the genus are superficially similar to the rhomaleosaurid pliosaurs. In fact, one former species of Macroplata, one of the best known rhomaleosaurids has been re-assigned to Hauffiosaurus, (M. longirostris to H. longirostris). Depending upon the species and specimen, Hauffiosaurus is known to have ranged from about three and a half meters to almost five meters in length.
Further reading
- Holotype of Plesiosaurus longirostris Blake and classification of the
plesiosaurs. - Journal of Paleontology 14(5):451-467. - T. E. White -
1940.
- A cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision of the Plesiosauria
(Reptilia: Sauropterygia). - Acta Zoologica Fennica
213:1-63. - F. R. O’Keefe - 2001.
- New information on Hauffiosaurus (Reptilia,
Plesiosauria)
based on a new species from the Alum Shale Member (Lower Toarcian:
Lower Jurassic) of Yorkshire, UK. - Palaeontology
54(3):547-571. - R. B. J. benson, H. F. Ketchum,
L. F. Noe & M. Gomez-Perez - 2011.
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