| Lorrainosaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Fossils ofholotype (MNHNL BU159) and skeletal reconstruction ofL. keileni | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Family: | †Pliosauridae |
| Genus: | †Lorrainosaurus |
| Species: | †L. keileni |
| Binomial name | |
| †Lorrainosaurus keileni Sachset al., 2023 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Lorrainosaurus is an extinct genus ofthalassophoneanpliosaurid from theMiddle Jurassic ofLorraine, France.[2]
Theholotype specimen (MNHNL BU159) was discovered during atemporary excavation for a roadway upgrade between theMontois-la-Montagne andSainte-Marie-aux-Chênescommunes inLorraine, France. The remains consisted of a near-completemandible,coracoid shoulder bone, a tooth, and fragments of theupper jaw and front limb. They specifically originated from a section of the Marnes de Gravelotte, amarl deposit dated to theBajocian stage of theMiddle Jurassic around 168 mya. The specimen first came under the study ofpaleontologistPascal Godefroit in 1994, who described it as a new species ofSimolestes and assigned the nameS. keileni.[2]
The generic identification was doubted by the PhD thesis of Noè (2001),[3] but it was not until at least 2021 that the holotype began to be rigorously reexamined by Sven Sachs of theBielefeld Natural History Museum.[4] Sachs published his results in a 2023 multi-authored study, which found that MNHNL BU159 belonged to a morederived lineage thanSimolestes. This thus warranted a new genus, which they named Lorrainosaurus, aportmanteau of the type locality Lorraine andAncient Greekσαῦρος (sauros, "reptile").[2]
Lorrainosaurus was a fairly small pliosaur. When extrapolating the length of the holotype's full-length mandible (133 centimeters (52 in)) to the proportions of the closely relatedStenorhynchosaurus, which is represented by a near-complete skeleton with a mandible close to one-third of the total animal's length,[a] a total length of 4.66 meters (15.3 ft) forL. keileni can be estimated.[2][5]
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