Sinopliosaurus
Encyclopedia
Sinopliosaurus is a genus
of pliosaur
oid plesiosaur
, a type of short-necked marine reptile, from the Early Cretaceous
of People's Republic of China
. One species, "S." fusuiensis
, was later shown to be based on teeth from a spinosaurid theropod dinosaur
.
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 pliosaur
Pliosaur
Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of marine reptiles. Pliosauroids, also commonly known as pliosaurs, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The pliosauroids were short-necked plesiosaurs with large heads and massive toothed jaws. These swimming reptiles were not dinosaurs but distant...
oid plesiosaur
Plesiosaur
Plesiosauroidea is an extinct clade of carnivorous plesiosaur marine reptiles. Plesiosauroids, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods...
, a type of short-necked marine reptile, from the Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...
of People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. One species, "S." fusuiensis
Sinopliosaurus (dinosaur)
"Sinopliosaurus" is a spinosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of southern China, known only from teeth. It includes a single species, "S." fusuiensis, that was first assigned to the plesiosaur Sinopliosaurus. Because this species is not a plesiosaur and therefore is not within the...
, was later shown to be based on teeth from a spinosaurid theropod dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
.