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Martinectes
''Martinectes'' is an extinct genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous Sharon Springs Formation of the United States. The genus contains a single species ''M. bonneri'', known from multiple skeletons and skulls. ''Martinectes'' was historically considered to represent a species of the genus '' Trinacromerum'' and later '' Dolichorhynchops'' before it was moved to its own genus. It was a large polycotylid measuring around long. History Two very large specimens of a polycotylid plesiosaur (KUVP 40001 and 40002) were collected from the Pierre Shale of Wyoming and later reported on by Adams in her 1997 Masters thesis, and in the same year, she officially described the specimens as a new species of ''Trinacromerum'' (''T. bonneri''). The specific name honoured University of Kansas preparator Orville Bonner. Unknown to her at the time, Carpenter (1996) had revised the Polycotylidae and separated ''Dolichorhynchops'' from ''Trinacromerum'', raising the question as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dolichorhynchops
''Dolichorhynchops'' is an extinct genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America, containing the species ''D. osborni'' and ''D. herschelensis'', with two previous species having been assigned to new genera. Definitive specimens of ''D. osborni'' have been found in the late Coniacian to early Campanian rocks, while those of ''D. herschelensis'' have been found in the late Campanian to early Maastrichtian rocks. ''Dolichorhynchops'' was a prehistoric marine reptile measuring around long. Its Greek generic name means "long-nosed face". Discovery and species The holotype specimen of ''Dolichorhynchops osborni'', KUVP 1300, was discovered in the upper Smoky Hill Chalk Logan County, Kansas, by George Fryer Sternberg, as a teenager, in around 1900. The remains were collected by him and his father, Charles Hazelius Sternberg, and then sold to the University of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas). KUVP 1300 was prepared and mounted by H.T. Martin under the supervisi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polycotylidae
Polycotylidae is a family of plesiosaurs from the Cretaceous, a sister group to Leptocleididae. They are known as false pliosaurs. Polycotylids first appeared during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous, before becoming abundant and widespread during the early Late Cretaceous. Several species survived into the final stage of the Cretaceous, the early Maastrichtian around . The possible latest surviving member '' Rarosaurus'' from the late Maastrichtian is more likely a crocodylomorph. With their short necks and large elongated heads, they resemble the pliosaurs, but closer phylogenetic studies indicate that they share many common features with the Leptocleididae and Elasmosauridae. They have been found worldwide, with specimens reported from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Morocco, the US, Canada, Eastern Europe, and South America. Phylogeny Cladogram A cladogram (from Greek language, Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unktaheela
''Unktaheela'' is an extinct genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous Sharon Springs Formation of the United States. The genus contains a single species, ''U. '', known from two partial skeletons. ''Unktaheela'' represents the smallest known polycotylid. Discovery and naming The ''Unktaheela'' fossil material was discovered in sediments of the Sharon Springs Formation ('' Baculites obtusus'' zone) in the United States. The holotype specimen, UCM 35059, was found near Redbird in Niobrara County, Wyoming, and it consists of a skull with mandible and a nearly complete series of cervical, sacral, and caudal vertebrae, a partial series of dorsal vertebrae, partial pectoral and pelvic girdles, and elements of all the paddle limbs. The paratype specimen, SDSM 142501, was found near Buffalo Gap in Fall River County, South Dakota, and it consists of a complete skull, broken mandible, and five fragmentary remains of the postcrania that remain unidentified. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2023 In Reptile Paleontology
This list of fossil reptiles described in 2023 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were binomial nomenclature, described during the year 2023, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2023. Squamates Squamate research * Redescription of ''Palaeogekko, Palaeogekko risgoviensis'' is published by Villa (2023), who confirms the validity of this species as a distinct taxon, and interprets it as a non-Eublepharidae, eublepharid Gekkonoidea, gekkonoid of uncertain affinities. * Thorn ''et al.'' (2023) describe new fossil material of ''Tiliqua frangens, Aethesia frangens'' from the Pleistocene of Australia, interpret it as a large-bodied (approximately 2.4 kg) blue-tongued skink, and transfer it to the genus ''Tiliqua''. * Lacertidae, Lacertid, blanid and Anguidae, anguid fossil material, including one of the oldest records of the genus ''Blanus'' reported to date, is described from the Early Miocene localities M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 stage, about 203 million years ago. They became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until their disappearance due to the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period, about 66 million years ago. They had a worldwide oceanic distribution, and some species at least partly inhabited freshwater environments. Plesiosaurs were among the first fossil reptiles discovered. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, scientists realised how distinctive their build was and they were named as a separate order in 1835. The first plesiosaurian genus, the eponymous ''Plesiosaurus'', was named in 1821. Since then, more than a hundred valid species have been described. In the early twenty-first cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niobrara Formation
The Niobrara Formation , also called the Niobrara Chalk, is a geologic formation in North America that was deposited between 87 and 82 million years ago during the Coniacian, Santonian, and Campanian stages of the Late Cretaceous. It is composed of two structural units, the Smoky Hill Chalk Member overlying the Fort Hays Limestone Member. The chalk formed from the accumulation of coccoliths from microorganisms living in what was once the Western Interior Seaway, an inland sea that divided the continent of North America during much of the Cretaceous. It underlies much of the Great Plains of the US and Canada. Evidence of vertebrate life is common throughout the formation and includes specimens of plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, pterosaurs, and several primitive aquatic birds. The type locality for the Niobrara Chalk is the Niobrara River in Knox County in northeastern Nebraska. The formation gives its name to the Niobrara cycle of the Western Interior Seaway. History of expl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brancasaurus Brancai
''Brancasaurus'' (meaning "Branca's lizard") is a genus of plesiosaur which lived in a freshwater lake in the Early Cretaceous of what is now North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a long neck possessing vertebrae bearing distinctively-shaped "shark fin"-shaped neural spines, and a relatively small and pointed head, ''Brancasaurus'' is superficially similar to ''Elasmosaurus'', albeit smaller in size at in length as a subadult. The type species of this genus is ''Brancasaurus brancai'', first named by Theodor Wegner in 1914 in honor of German paleontologist Wilhelm von Branca.Wegner, T.H. 1914. "''Brancasaurus brancai'' n. g. n. sp., ein Elasmosauride aus dem Wealden Westfalens". ''Festschrift für Wilhelm Branca zum 70. Geburtstage''. Borntraeger; Leipzig: pp. 235–305 Another plesiosaur named from the same region, ''Gronausaurus wegneri'', most likely represents a synonym of this genus. While traditionally considered as a basal member of the Elasmosauridae, ''Brancasaurus'' h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vectocleidus Pastorum
''Vectocleidus'' is an extinct genus of leptocleidid plesiosaurian known from the Early Cretaceous Vectis Formation (late Barremian stage) of Isle of Wight, in the United Kingdom. It contains a single species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ..., ''Vectocleidus pastorum''. See also * List of plesiosaur genera * Timeline of plesiosaur research References Early Cretaceous plesiosaurs of Europe Fossil taxa described in 2012 Taxa named by Darren Naish Sauropterygian genera Plesiosaurs {{plesiosaur-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brancasaurus
''Brancasaurus'' (meaning "Branca's lizard") is a genus of plesiosaur which lived in a freshwater lake in the Early Cretaceous of what is now North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a long neck possessing vertebrae bearing distinctively-shaped "shark fin"-shaped vertebra#structure, neural spines, and a relatively small and pointed head, ''Brancasaurus'' is superficially similar to ''Elasmosaurus'', albeit smaller in size at in length as a subadult. The type species of this genus is ''Brancasaurus brancai'', first named by Theodor Wegner in 1914 in paleontology, 1914 in honor of German paleontology, paleontologist Wilhelm von Branca.Wegner, T.H. 1914. "''Brancasaurus brancai'' n. g. n. sp., ein Elasmosauride aus dem Wealden Westfalens". ''Festschrift für Wilhelm Branca zum 70. Geburtstage''. Borntraeger; Leipzig: pp. 235–305 Another plesiosaur named from the same region, ''Gronausaurus wegneri'', most likely represents a synonym (taxonomy), synonym of this genus. While tradition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
