''Discosaurus'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
genus of
plesiosaur
The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an Order (biology), order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia.
Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period (geology), Period, possibly in the Rhaetian st ...
from the
Santonian
The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya ( million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 m ...
of
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
and
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
. One species is known, which is ''D. vestutus''.
Discovery and naming
The holotype, eleven vertebrae, was discovered by Joseph Jones in
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
and
Mississippi
Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
, and was named and described as ''Discosaurus vestutus'' by
Leidy (1851).
[Leidy, J. (1851). Descriptions of a number of fossil reptiles and mammals. ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' 5:325-328.] Two more specimens from
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
were described and were later re-classified as belonging to
''Cimoliasaurus magnus'' by Leidy (1870b).
[Leidy, J., (1870). ''Discosaurus'' and its allies. ''Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil.'' 22:18-22.]
Leidy (1870b) later argued that ''Discosaurus'' was the same animal as ''
Elasmosaurus
''Elasmosaurus'' () is a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, at about 80.6 to 77million years ago. The first specimen was discovered in 1867 near Fort Wallace, Kansas, US, and ...
''.
See also
*
Timeline of plesiosaur research
This timeline of plesiosaur research is a chronologically ordered list of important fossil discoveries, controversies of interpretation, Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic revisions, and cultural portrayals of plesiosaurs, an order of marine reptiles ...
*
List of plesiosaurs
This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all Genus, genera that have ever been included in the order Plesiosauria, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now conside ...
References
Cretaceous plesiosaurs of North America
Cretaceous plesiosaurs
Cretaceous reptiles of North America
Nomina dubia
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