Megacephalosaurus
Name:
Megacephalosaurus
(Big head lizard).
Phonetic: Meg-ah-sef-ah-lo-sore-us.
Named By: B. A. Schumacher, K. Carpenter
& M. J. Everhart - 2013.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria, Pliosauridae, Brachaucheninae.
Species: M. eulerti (type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Holotype skull about 170 centimetres long.
Known locations: USA, Kansas - Carlile Shale
Formation, Greenhorn Limestone Formation.
Time period: Turonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Skull and partial post
cranial remains.
The
type specimen of Megacephalosaurus was originally
assigned to the
Brachauchenius
genus, leading to the idea that Brachauchenius
was one
of the biggest of its time. The removal of this skull has led to a
size revision of Brachauchenius, and the
establishment of a new
genus, Megacephalosaurus. However this still
means that there were
still some large pliosaurs
in the oceans of the early portion of the
late Cretaceous, our definition of names is just different.
Megacephalosaurus
was a very large pliosaur, and even though a complete skeleton is
unknown, the one hundred and seventy centimetre skull of the holotype
individual is proof of this. Megacephalosaurus
was of a size that
meant it could tackle other prey, perhaps even focused upon other
marine reptiles.
Further reading
- A new Cretaceous pliosaurid (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the
Carlile Shale (Middle Turonian) of Russell County, Kansas. -
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(3):613-628. - B. A.
Schumacher, K. Carpenter & M. J. Everhart - 2013.
- Morphological and phylogenetic aspects of the dentition of
Megacephalosaurus eulerti, a pliosaurid from the
Turonian of Kansas,
USA, with remarks on the cranial anatomy of the taxon. -
Geological Magazine. - Daniel Madzia, Sven Sachs and Johan
Lindgren - 2018.
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