''Maresaurus'' 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
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
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
Middle Jurassic
The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 161.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relativel ...
(
Bajocian
In the geologic timescale, the Bajocian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 170.9 ±0.8 Ma to around 168.2 ±1.2 Ma (million years ago). The Bajocian Age succeeds the Aalenian Age and precedes the Bathonia ...
)
Los Molles Formation
The Los Molles Formation is a geologic formation of Early to Middle Jurassic age, located at northern and central part of Neuquén Basin at Mendoza Shelf in Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the s ...
of
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. The
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
, ''Maresaurus coccai'', was named by Gasparini in 1997. Recent phylogenetic analysis found ''Maresaurus'' to be a rhomaleosaurid.
[Smith AS, Dyke GJ. 2008. The skull of the giant predatory pliosaur ''Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni'': implications for plesiosaur phylogenetics. ''Naturwissenschaften'' e-published 2008.][Ketchum HF, Benson RBJ. Global interrelationships of Plesiosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses. Biological Reviews]
See also
*
List of plesiosaur genera
This list of plesiosaurs is a comprehensive listing of all 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 considered inv ...
*
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 ...
References
External links
* Smith, Adam S. and Dyke, Gareth J. (2008)
The skull of the giant predatory pliosaur ''Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni'': implications for plesiosaur phylogenetics" ''Naturwissenschaften''.
from the Plesiosaur Directory
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q3390438, from2=Q124605104
Rhomaleosauridae
Middle Jurassic plesiosaurs
Plesiosaurs of South America
Bajocian life
Jurassic Argentina
Fossils of Argentina
Neuquén Basin
Fossil taxa described in 1997
Sauropterygian genera