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The Pliosaurs ("more lizards") were marine
Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology....
 reptiles from the Jurassic
Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to  Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
 and Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
 Periods. They originally included members of the family Pliosauridae, of the Order Plesiosauria
Plesiosauria

Plesiosauria are an Order of Mesozoic marine reptiles. They first appeared in the middle Triassic Period and became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period....
, but several other genera and families are now also included; the number and details of which vary according to the classification used. The name is derived from Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
: p?e??? meaning 'more/a higher degree' and sa???? meaning 'lizard'.






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The Pliosaurs ("more lizards") were marine
Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology....
 reptiles from the Jurassic
Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period that extends from about annum to  Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous....
 and Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
 Periods. They originally included members of the family Pliosauridae, of the Order Plesiosauria
Plesiosauria

Plesiosauria are an Order of Mesozoic marine reptiles. They first appeared in the middle Triassic Period and became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period....
, but several other genera and families are now also included; the number and details of which vary according to the classification used. The name is derived from Greek
Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning across the Archaic Greece , Classical Greece , and Hellenistic civilization periods of ancient Greece and the classical antiquity....
: p?e??? meaning 'more/a higher degree' and sa???? meaning 'lizard'. The pliosaurs, along with their relatives, the true plesiosaur
Plesiosaur

Plesiosaurs were carnivore aquatic reptiles. After their discovery, they were somewhat fancifully said to have resembled , although they had no shell....
s, and other members of Sauropterygia
Sauropterygia

Sauropterygia is a group of very successful aquatic reptiles that flourished during the Mesozoic before they became extinct. They are united by a radical adaptation of their shoulder, designed to support powerful flipper strokes....
, were not dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
s.

The group was characterised by having a short neck and an elongated head, in contrast to the long-necked plesiosaur
Plesiosaur

Plesiosaurs were carnivore aquatic reptiles. After their discovery, they were somewhat fancifully said to have resembled , although they had no shell....
s. They were carnivorous
Carnivore

A carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' , is any animal with a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from animals living or dead .In a more general sense, an animal may be considered a carnivore if it prefers feeding on animal matter over plant matter....
 and their long and powerful jaws carried many sharp, conical teeth. Pliosaurs range from 4 to 15 meters in length. Their prey may have included fish
Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
, ichthyosaur
Ichthyosaur

Ichthyosaurs were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins. Ichthyosaurs thrived during much of the Mesozoic era; based on fossil evidence, they first appeared approximately 245 million years ago and disappeared about 90 million years ago, about 25 million years before the dinosaurs became extinct....
s and other plesiosaurs.

Typical genera include Macroplata
Macroplata

Macroplata is an extinct genus of Early Jurassic pliosaur, which grew up to 4.5 meters in length. Like other pliosaurs, Macroplata probably lived on a diet of fish, using its sharp needle-like teeth to catch prey....
, Kronosaurus
Kronosaurus

Kronosaurus is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur. It was among the largest pliosaurs, and is appropriately named after the leader of the Titan , Cronus....
, Liopleurodon
Liopleurodon

'Liopleurodon' is a genus of large, Carnivore marine reptile belonging to the Pliosauroidea, a clade of short-necked plesiosaurs. Two species of Liopleurodon lived during the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic Period , while the third, L....
, Pliosaurus
Pliosaurus

Pliosaurus is a genus of extinct marine reptiles, from the Mesozoic era. It is included in the family Pliosauridae. It was a large predatory reptile and its diet would have included fishes, squids and other marine reptiles....
 and Peloneustes
Peloneustes

Peloneustes is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the family Pliosauridae. It is known from the Callovian aged deposits of the Oxford clay formation of England....
. Fossil specimens have been found in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
, South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and the Arctic
Arctic

The Arctic is the region around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctica region around the South Pole. The Arctic includes the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Greenland , Russia, the United States , Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland....
 region near Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
.

Many very early (from the Rhaetian
Rhaetian

PaleogeographyAt this stage, Pangaea began to break-up, though the Atlantic Ocean was not yet formed....
 (Latest Triassic) and Early Jurassic
Early Jurassic

The Early Jurassic epoch is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event and ends at the start of the Middle Jurassic ....
) primitive pliosaurs were very like plesiosaurs in appearance and indeed used to be included in the family Plesiosauridae.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy presented here is mainly based on the plesiosaur cladistic analysis proposed by O'Keefe in 2001 and Smith & Dyke in 2008

  • Suborder: †Pliosauroidea Welles, 1943 sensu O'Keefe, 2001
    • ? †Bishanopliosaurus
      Bishanopliosaurus

      is an extinct genus of plesiosaur.See also* List of plesiosaursReferences...
       Dong, 1980
    • †Hauffiosaurus
      Hauffiosaurus

      is an extinct genus of plesiosaur.See also* List of plesiosaursReferences...
       O’Keefe, 2001
    • ? †Megalneusaurus
      Megalneusaurus

      Megalneusaurus is an extinct genus of large pliosaur that lived in the Sundance Sea during the Kimmeridgian, ~156-152 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic....
       Knight, 1898
    • ? †Pachycostasaurus
      Pachycostasaurus

      is an extinct genus of plesiosaur.See also* List of plesiosaursReferences...
       Cruickshank, Martill & Noe, 1996
    • ? †Sinopliosaurus
      Sinopliosaurus

      Sinopliosaurus is a genus of pliosauroid plesiosaur, a type of short-necked marine reptile, from the Early Cretaceous of People's Republic of China....
       Young, 1942
    • †Thalassiodracon
      Thalassiodracon

      Thalassiodracon is an extinct genus of small pliosaur that lived in the Late Triassic to the Early Jurassic of Europe. The animal is known from a number of complete skeletons found by the fossil collector Thomas Hawkins in Somerset, England....
       Storrs & Taylor, 1996
    • Family: †Rhomaleosauridae (Nopsca, 1928) Kuhn, 1961 sensu Smith & Dyke, 2008
      • Archaeonectrus
        Archaeonectrus

        Archaeonectrus is an extinction genus of pliosaur from the Jurassic of what is now southeastern England. The type species is Archaeonectrus rostratus, first named by Sir Richard Owen in 1865, and renamed by N.I....
         Novozhilov, 1964
      • Eurycleidus
        Eurycleidus

        is an extinct genus of plesiosaur.See also* List of plesiosaursReferences...
         Andrews, 1922
      • ? Hexatarostinus
      • Macroplata
        Macroplata

        Macroplata is an extinct genus of Early Jurassic pliosaur, which grew up to 4.5 meters in length. Like other pliosaurs, Macroplata probably lived on a diet of fish, using its sharp needle-like teeth to catch prey....
         Swinton, 1930
      • Maresaurus
        Maresaurus

        Maresaurus is an extinction genus of pliosaur from the Middle Jurassic of what is now Argentina. The type species, Maresaurus coccai, was named by Gasparini in 1997....
         Gasparini, 1997
      • Rhomaleosaurus
        Rhomaleosaurus

        Rhomaleosaurus is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the pliosaur superfamily. It was about long and lived in the Early Jurassic Period....
         Seeley, 1874 Paraphyletic
        Paraphyly

        In phylogenetics, a group of organisms is said to be paraphyletic if the group contains its most recent common ancestor Common descent but does not contain all the descendants of that ancestor....
      • ? Yuzhoupliosaurus
        Yuzhoupliosaurus

        Yuzhoupliosaurus is a extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China. The genus is known only from a lower jaw, a vertebra, and fragments of a pectoral girdle....
         Zhang, 1985
    • Family: †Leptocleididae
      Leptocleididae

      Leptocleididae were a small family of pliosaurs. All members were small and had round bodies and triangle shaped heads....
       White, 1940 sensu Smith & Dyke, 2008
      • Leptocleidus
        Leptocleidus

        Leptocleidus is an extinct genus of pliosaur, belonging to the family Leptocleididae . It is the only known pliosaur to be found in sediments on the Isle of Wight....
         Andrews, 1922 Paraphyletic
        Paraphyly

        In phylogenetics, a group of organisms is said to be paraphyletic if the group contains its most recent common ancestor Common descent but does not contain all the descendants of that ancestor....
      • Umoonasaurus
        Umoonasaurus

        Umoonasaurus is an extinct genus of pliosaur belonging to the family Leptocleididae . This genus lived approximately 115 million years ago in shallow seas covering parts of what is now Australia....
         Kear, Schroeder & Lee, 2006
    • Family: †Pliosauridae Seeley, 1874 sensu Smith & Dyke, 2008
      • Brachauchenius
        Brachauchenius

        Brachauchenius is an extinct genus of pliosaur that lived in America during the Cretaceous.The type species, Brachauchenius lucasi, lived in the Western Inland Sea of North America around 93.5-89.3 million years ago, during the Turonian stage of the Cretaceous....
         Williston, 1903
      • Kronosaurus
        Kronosaurus

        Kronosaurus is an extinct genus of short-necked pliosaur. It was among the largest pliosaurs, and is appropriately named after the leader of the Titan , Cronus....
         Longman, 1924
      • Liopleurodon
        Liopleurodon

        'Liopleurodon' is a genus of large, Carnivore marine reptile belonging to the Pliosauroidea, a clade of short-necked plesiosaurs. Two species of Liopleurodon lived during the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic Period , while the third, L....
         Sauvage, 1873
      • Peloneustes
        Peloneustes

        Peloneustes is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the family Pliosauridae. It is known from the Callovian aged deposits of the Oxford clay formation of England....
         Lydekker, 1889
      • ? Plesiopleurodon Carpenter, 1996
      • Pliosaurus
        Pliosaurus

        Pliosaurus is a genus of extinct marine reptiles, from the Mesozoic era. It is included in the family Pliosauridae. It was a large predatory reptile and its diet would have included fishes, squids and other marine reptiles....
         Owen, 1841
      • ? Polyptychodon
        Polyptychodon

        Polyptychodon is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile belonging to the family Pliosauridae that lived during the Cretaceous. Its fossils have been found in Europe and North America....
         Owen, 1841
      • Simolestes
        Simolestes

        Simolestes is an extinct genus of pliosaurs that lived in the Middle to Late Jurassic. Three species are currently known:*Simolestes keileni from the Bajocian of France...
         Andrews, 1909


Discoveries

In August 2006, paleontologists of the University of Oslo discovered the first remains of a pliosaur on Norwegian soil. The remains were described as "very well preserved as well as being unique in their completeness" and are the first complete skeleton of a pliosaur ever discovered. Whether it belongs to the genus Pliosaurus or Liopleurodon awaits publication of the fossil description. The excavation of the find is documented in the 2009 History television special Predator X
Predator X (TV program)

Predator X is an upcoming 2009 special on History documenting the excavation of a giant pliosaur in the Svalbard Islands. The special follows J?rn Hurum and a team of paleontologists from the University of Oslo as they excavate the site....
.

The discovery of another very large pliosaur was announced in 2002, from Mexico
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
. This pliosaur came to be known as the 'Monster of Aramberri'. The size of this specimen has been estimated to be about 15 meters (49.2 ft) long and it had a long skull. Consequently, although widely reported as such, it does not belong to the genus Liopleurodon. The remains of this animal consisting of a partial vertebral column, were dated to the Kimmeridgian
Kimmeridgian

The Kimmeridgian is a faunal stage of the Late Jurassic epoch . It spans the time between 155.7 ? 4 annum and 150.8 ? 4 Ma . The Kimmeridgian stage follows the Oxfordian stage and precedes the Tithonian stage....
 of the La Caja Formation. The fossils were found much earlier in 1985 by a geology student and were at first erroneously attributed to a theropod dinosaur
Dinosaur

Dinosaurs were the dominant vertebrate animals of Landform ecosystems for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic Period until the end of the Cretaceous Period , when most of them became extinct in the Cretaceous?Tertiary extinction event....
 by Hahnel. The remains also originally contained part of a rostrum with teeth (now lost).

See also

  • Plesiosaur
    Plesiosaur

    Plesiosaurs were carnivore aquatic reptiles. After their discovery, they were somewhat fancifully said to have resembled , although they had no shell....
  • Plesiosauria
    Plesiosauria

    Plesiosauria are an Order of Mesozoic marine reptiles. They first appeared in the middle Triassic Period and became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period....


Further reading