Haematosaurus is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of teleosaurid

Teleosauridae

The teleosaurids were marine crocodyliforms similar to the modern gharial that lived from the Early Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. They had long snouts, indicative of piscivory and were the closest relatives to the Metriorhynchidae, the Mesozoic crocodilians that returned to the sea and evolved...

 thalattosuchian. Fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

s have been found from Boulogne-sur-Mer

Boulogne-sur-Mer

-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....

 in northern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 of Jurassic

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to  Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...

 age. It was originally thought to be a plesiosaur

Plesiosauria

Plesiosauria is an order of Mesozoic marine reptiles. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the Early Jurassic Period and became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until the K-T extinction at the end of the Cretaceous Period.The name "plesiosaur" is used to refer to the order...

, and the type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 was initially assigned to the genus Plesiosaurus

Plesiosaurus

Plesiosaurus was a genus of large marine sauropterygian reptile that lived during the early part of the Jurassic Period, and is known by nearly complete skeletons from the Lias of England...

in 1874, although it was later reassigned to the new genus in 1934. It is now known to have been a marine crocodylomorph. Due to the fragmentary nature of the material associated with the genus, it is currently regarded as a nomen dubium

Nomen dubium

In zoological nomenclature, a nomen dubium is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application...

.

External links

• Haematosaurus in the Paleobiology Database
  Paleobiology Database
  ' is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms.-History:The Paleobiology Database was founded in 2000. It has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Australian Research Council...