Yuzhoupliosaurus

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Yuzhoupliosaurus
Fossil range: Middle Jurassic

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Sauropterygia
Order:	Plesiosauria
Family:	Rhomaleosauridae
Genus:	Yuzhoupliosaurus

Species

Y. chengjiangensis (type)
Zhang, 1985

Yuzhoupliosaurus is a extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China. The genus is known only from a lower jaw, a vertebra, and fragments of a pectoral girdle. It is believed this genus lived in fresh water^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Etymology

The Genus was named after Yuzhou (禹州), the previous name of Chungking- a major city on the Yangtze River, and where the first fossil of Yuzhoupliosaurus was found.

[edit] Description

Paleontologists believe Yuzhoupliosaurus to have been approxamatley 4 meters long. the lower jaw contains five pairs of large teeth and 23 or 234 smaller teeth. the cervical vertebra are considered "high and short". The anterior cervical ribs are Double-headed while the posterior cervical ribs are single-headed. The coracoids are elongated and the clavicles are well-developed.