Hydrotherosaurus

Hydrotherosaurus (meaning "water beast lizard") is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid plesiosaur from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian stage) Moreno Formation of Fresno County, California, USA. The only known species, H. alexandrae, was named for its discoverer, Annie Montague Alexander, by Samuel Paul Welles.

Hydrotherosaurus
Temporal range: Maastrichtian,
~
Restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: †Sauropterygia
Order: †Plesiosauria
Family: †Elasmosauridae
Genus: †Hydrotherosaurus
Welles, 1943
Species:
†H. alexandrae
Binomial name
†Hydrotherosaurus alexandrae
Welles, 1943

Description
Size comparison

Hydrotherosaurus was a medium-sized plesiosaur, measuring approximately 7.8–8 metres (25.6–26.2 ft) long and weighing 1.1 metric tons (1.2 short tons).[1][2][3] It has one of the longest necks relative to total length among elasmosaurids, with 60 vertebrae in total. It had a small head that measured about 33 centimetres (13 in; 1.08 ft) long, a streamlined body, and four large flippers that were specially designed to help the huge animal balance, move, and accelerate itself.

See also

References
  1. O'Gorman, J.P. (2016). "A Small Body Sized Non-Aristonectine Elasmosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia with Comments on the Relationships of the Patagonian and Antarctic Elasmosaurids". Ameghiniana. 53 (3): 245–268. doi:10.5710/AMGH.29.11.2015.2928. S2CID 133139689.
  2. Valentin Fischer; Nikolay G. Zverkov; Maxim S. Arkhangelsky; Ilya M. Stenshin; Ivan V. Blagovetshensky; Gleb N. Uspensky (2020). "A new elasmosaurid plesiosaurian from the Early Cretaceous of Russia marks an early attempt at neck elongation". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 192 (4): 1167–1194. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa103. hdl:2268/251614.Supplementary Information
  3. Paul, Gregory S. (2022). The Princeton Field Guide to Mesozoic Sea Reptiles. Princeton University Press. p. 115. ISBN 9780691193809.

Sources
  • Welles, S. P. (1943). "Elasmosaurid plesiosaurs with a description of the new material from California and Colorado". University of California Memoirs. 13: 125–254.


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