Zarafasaura

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Zarafasaura
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian
Mounted skeleton (above), Wyoming Dinosaur Center
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: †Sauropterygia
Order: †Plesiosauria
Family: †Elasmosauridae
Genus: †Zarafasaura
Vincent et al., 2011
Species:
†Z. oceanis
Binomial name
†Zarafasaura oceanis
Vincent et al., 2011

Zarafasaura is an

elasmosaurid known from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco.[1] As a relatively small elasmosaur, it would have measured around 3–4 metres (9.8–13.1 ft) long and weighed about 100 kilograms (220 lb).[2][3]

Discovery

Life restoration

Zarafasaura was first named by Peggy Vincent, Nathalie Bardet, Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, Baâdi Bouya, Mbarek Amaghzaz and Saïd Meslouh in

generic name is derived from zarafa (زرافة), Arabic for "giraffe" (it refers to the name given by the local population to the plesiosaurs found in the phosphates) and saurus, Greek for "lizard". The specific name is derived from oceanis, Latin for "daughter of the sea".[1]

Skull diagram

The

Phosphates of Morocco.[1] In 2013, a second specimen, WDC CMC-01, was found to have a more complete skull with previously unknown postcranial elements such as the forefins, hindfins, vertebrae, pectoral and pelvic material.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1016/j.gr.2010.10.005
    .
  2. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.105111
    .
  3. ISBN 9780691193809
    .
  4. S2CID 204842778
    .
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