Plesiosaurus macrocephalus Owen 1840

Reptilia - Plesiosauria

Alternative combination: Rhomaleosaurus macrocephalus

Synonym: Plesiosaurus brachycephalus Owen 1840

Full reference: R. Owen. 1840. Report on British fossil reptiles. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 8:43-126

Belongs to Plesiosaurus according to W. E. Swinton 1948

See also Delair 1960, Lydekker 1889, Owen 1840, Perrier 1928, Persson 1963, Seeley 1865, Sollas 1881, Swinton 1934 and Tate and Blake 1876

Sister taxa: Plesiosaurus bavaricus, Plesiosaurus bitractensis, Plesiosaurus carinatus, Plesiosaurus cliduchus, Plesiosaurus coelospondylus, Plesiosaurus costatus, Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus, Plesiosaurus elasmosaurus, Plesiosaurus exarsostinus, Plesiosaurus grandis, Plesiosaurus hesternus, Plesiosaurus houzeaui, Plesiosaurus macrodeirus, Plesiosaurus mexicanus, Plesiosaurus nitidus, Plesiosaurus platydeirus, Plesiosaurus priscus, Plesiosaurus rostratus, Plesiosaurus subconcavus, Plesiosaurus subtrigonus, Plesiosaurus tessarestarsostinus, Plesiosaurus trigonus

Type specimens:

  • Plesiosaurus macrocephalus: BMNH R1336, a skeleton (almost complete juvenile skeleton)
  • Plesiosaurus brachycephalus: BRSMG Cb 2336 (now destroyed), a partial skeleton. Its type locality is Bitton, near Bristol, which is in a Hettangian/Pliensbachian marine horizon in the United Kingdom.

Distribution:

• Jurassic of the United Kingdom (3 collections)

Total: 3 collections each including a single occurrence

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Specimen images are retrieved through the ePANDDA API.


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