Ceresiosaurus
| Ceresiosaurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ceresiosaurus calcagnii fossil | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Nothosauroidea |
| Family: | †Nothosauridae |
| Subfamily: | † Lariosaurinae
|
| Genus: | †Ceresiosaurus Peyer , 1931 |
| Type species | |
| †Ceresiosaurus calcagnii Peyer, 1931
| |
| Species | |
Ceresiosaurus is an
pachypleurosaurids. Ceresiosaurus represents one of the largest vertebrate of up to 3 m (9.8 ft) snout-tail length from the very diversified paleoenvironment of the Middle Triassic Monte San Giorgio.[1]
Palaeobiology
Ceresiosaurus was much more elongated than its relatives, reaching 3 metres (9.8 ft) in length, and had fully developed flippers with no trace of visible toes. It had multiple elongated
phalanges, making the flippers much longer than in most other nothosaurs, and more closely resembling those of the later plesiosaurs.[3] Ceresiosaurus also had the shortest skull
of any known nothosaur, which further increased its resemblance to plesiosaurs.
Although possessing a long neck and tail, Ceresiosaurus may not have swum by
pachypleurosaurs
in the preserved stomach of Ceresiosaurus remains lend credence to the theory of it being a fast swimmer.
References
- ^ S2CID 128688930.
- ^ Rieppel, Olivier (1998). "The status of the sauropterygian reptile genera Ceresiosaurus, Lariosaurus, and Silvestrosaurus from the Middle Triassic of Europe". Fieldiana: Geology. New Series. 38: 1–46.
- ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
