Name:
Pantosaurus
(All lizard).
Phonetic: Pan-to-sor-us.
Named By: Othniel Charles Marsh - 1893.
Synonyms: Parasaurus striatus.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria, Plesiosauriodea, Cryptoclididae.
Species: P. striatus (type).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: USA, Wyoming - Sundance
Formation.
Time period: Oxfordian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of several
individuals.
Pantosaurus was originally described as Parasaurus, however this name had already been used to name a genus of Pareiasaur. Pantosaurus is a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the late Jurassic. Pantosaurus has been noted as having a strong similarity to Muraenosaurus which is known from England and France, though there are clear differences in the humerus and radius (two bones of the fore limb).
Further reading
- Current taxonomic status of the plesiosaur Pantosaurus
striatus
from the Upper Jurassic Sundance Formation, Wyoming. -
Paludicola 4 (2): 37–46. - F. R. O’Keefe &
W. Wahl - 2003.