Spitrasaurus Temporal range:
Tithonian
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Life restoration | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Superorder: | † Sauropterygia |
Order: | † Plesiosauria |
Family: | † Cryptoclididae |
Genus: | †
Spitrasaurus Knutsen, Druckenmiller & Hurum, 2012 |
Species | |
Spitrasaurus is an extinct genus of cryptoclidid [1] plesiosauroid plesiosaur known from the uppermost Jurassic of central Spitsbergen, Norway [2] and likely also Kimmeridge, England. [3] It is named after a syllabic abbreviation for Spitsbergen Travel.
The holotype of S. wensaasi is PMO 219 718 and consists of sixty articulated cervical vertebrae and skull material from a juvenile, [2] and the holotype of S. larseni is SVB 1450 and also consists of cervical vertebrae. [2]
A cervical vertebra, MANCH LI 5519c, was found in the Kimmeridge Clay Formation in England and was tentatively assigned to cf. Spitrasaurus in 2014 after being compared to Colymbosaurus megadeirus, [3] while more possible Spitrasaurus vertebrae found at Kimmeridge reside within the collection of Steve Etches.
Spitrasaurus Temporal range:
Tithonian
~ | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Life restoration | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Superorder: | † Sauropterygia |
Order: | † Plesiosauria |
Family: | † Cryptoclididae |
Genus: | †
Spitrasaurus Knutsen, Druckenmiller & Hurum, 2012 |
Species | |
Spitrasaurus is an extinct genus of cryptoclidid [1] plesiosauroid plesiosaur known from the uppermost Jurassic of central Spitsbergen, Norway [2] and likely also Kimmeridge, England. [3] It is named after a syllabic abbreviation for Spitsbergen Travel.
The holotype of S. wensaasi is PMO 219 718 and consists of sixty articulated cervical vertebrae and skull material from a juvenile, [2] and the holotype of S. larseni is SVB 1450 and also consists of cervical vertebrae. [2]
A cervical vertebra, MANCH LI 5519c, was found in the Kimmeridge Clay Formation in England and was tentatively assigned to cf. Spitrasaurus in 2014 after being compared to Colymbosaurus megadeirus, [3] while more possible Spitrasaurus vertebrae found at Kimmeridge reside within the collection of Steve Etches.