Thalassiodracon
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| Thalassiodracon Temporal range: Late Triassic-Early Jurassic | |
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| Thalassiodracon hawkinsi found in the Lower Lias strata, Street, Somerset, England. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Superorder: | Sauropterygia |
| Order: | Plesiosauria |
| Suborder: | Pliosauroidea |
| Genus: | Thalassiodracon Storrs & Taylor 1996 |
| Binomial name | |
| Thalassiodracon hawkinsi (Owen, 1838) | |
Thalassiodracon (tha-LAS-ee-o-DRAY-kon, meaning "sea dragon") is an extinct genus of small pliosaur that lived in the Late Triassic (Rhaetian) to the Early Jurassic (Hettangian) of Europe. The animal is known from a number of complete skeletons (Holotype: BMNH 2018) found by the fossil collector Thomas Hawkins in Somerset, England. The type and only species, Thalassiodracon hawkinsi named to honour its discoverer, was originally placed in the genus Plesiosaurus. This marine reptile measured 1.5–2 m. (5-6.5 ft) had a long neck but the skull was proportionally larger than Plesiosaurus, being 1/10 of the total body length.
Thalassiodracon hawkinsi skeleton, Natural History Museum in London
life restoration of Thalassiodracon hawkinsi
See also
- List of plesiosaurs
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