Palmulasaurus

Name: Palmulasaurus.
Phonetic: Pal-mu-lah-sore-us.
Named By: L.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Albright,‭ ‬D.‭ ‬D.‭ ‬Gillette‭ & ‬A.‭ ‬L.‭ ‬Titus‭ ‬-‭ ‬2007.
Synonyms: Palmula quadratus.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Sauropterygia,‭ ‬Plesiosauria,‭ ‬Polycotylidae.
Species: P.‭ ‬quadratus‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Piscivore/Carnivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: USA‭ ‬-‭ ‬Utah‭ ‬-‭ ‬Tropic Shale Formation.
Time period: Turonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Single specimen.

       Palmulasaurus was initially named as Palmula when first described in‭ ‬2007,‭ ‬but it was soon realised that Palmula was actually preoccupied by a genus of foraminifer‭ (‬an amoeboid protist‭)‬,‭ ‬hence the later addition of the Ancient Greek‭ ‘‬saurus‭’ ‬which means‭ ‘‬lizard‭’‬.‭ ‬In‭ ‬2007‭ ‬Albright,‭ ‬Gillette and Titus also named of polycotylid plesiosaur from the same formation called Eopolycotylus.‭ ‬Both of these plesiosaurs may have been hunted by much larger pliosaurs such as Brachauchenius.

Further reading
- Plesiosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) Tropic Shale of southern Utah, Part 2: Polycotylidae. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (1): 41–58. - L. B.Albright III, D. D. Gillette & A. L. Titus - 2007.
- Plesiosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) Tropic Shale of southern Utah, Part 2: Polycotylidae; Replacement names for the preoccupied genus Palmula and the subfamily Palmulainae. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (4): 1051. - L. B.Albright III, D. D. Gillette & A. L. Titus - 2007.



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