| Kimmerosaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Restoration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Suborder: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Brown, 1981 |
| Binomial name | |
| †Kimmerosaurus langhami Brown, 1981 | |
Kimmerosaurus ("lizard fromKimmeridge") is anextinctgenus ofplesiosaur from thefamilyCryptoclididae.[1]Kimmerosaurus is most closely related toTatenectes.
There are very few fossil remains ofKimmerosaurus known. In fact, nothing has been found to show whatKimmerosaurus may have looked like below theneck, although theatlas and theaxis are similar to those of the plesiosaurColymbosaurus. It is this lack of any post-cranial fossils, and the bone similarities that has led to the belief thatKimmerosaurus fossils could be the missing head ofColymbosaurus, a similar plesiosaur with no known skull fossils.[2][3]
The first part of the genus name ofKimmerosaurus comes from the location of the firstKimmerosaurusfossils,Kimmeridge Clay deposits ofDorset,England (these deposits are also the root word for theKimmeridgian stage of the Jurassic period). The second part comes from theGreek wordσαυρος (sauros), "lizard".[3]
AsKimmerosaurus is known from only askull (and a few cervicalvertebrae), much of the plesiosaur's description comes from itsteeth,[3] which are recurved and buccolingually compressed (compressed cheek-side to tongue-side). Thepremaxilla has only eight teeth, while there are thirty-six teeth on eachramus.[4] Theparietals ofKimmerosaurus do not form asagittal crest.[4] The overall skull ofKimmerosaurus is similar toCryptoclidus but much more broad.
Kimmerosaurus fossils are found in theKimmeridge Clay Formation near the town ofKimmeridge, inDorset,England. This animal may have ranged through much of what is now theJurassic Coast, aWorld Heritage Site in the southernUnited Kingdom.
.png)