Kingdom Animalia Superorder Sauropterygia Genus Yuzhoupliosaurus Rank Species | Class Sauropsida Family Rhomaleosauridae Phylum Chordata Order Plesiosauria | |
Similar Bishanopliosaurus, Maresaurus, Sthenarosaurus, Archaeonectrus, Eurycleidus | ||
Yuzhoupliosaurus is an 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.
Contents
Etymology
The genus was named after Yuzhou (禹州), the previous name of Chungking, a major city on the Yangtze River where the first fossil of Yuzhoupliosaurus was found.
Description
Paleontologists believe Yuzhoupliosaurus to have been approximatively 4 meters long. The lower jaw contains five pairs of large teeth and 23 or 24 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.