Kronosaurus
| Kronosaurus | ||||||||||||
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Mounted skeletal reconstruction of K. queenslandicus |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Lower Cretaceous ( Aptium to Albium ) | ||||||||||||
| 112.9 to 100.5 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Kronosaurus | ||||||||||||
| Longman , 1924 | ||||||||||||
Kronosaurus (from Kronos , the leader of the titans of Greek mythology ) is one of the largest known genera of pliosaurs . Kronosaurus lived in the Lower Cretaceous 125 to 100 million years ago in a shallow sea thatcovered Australia at the time.
Discovery story
The first fossil , a six-tooth mandibular fragment, was found near Hughenden in Queensland in 1889 . Longman described Kronosaurus queenslandicus in 1924. In 1931-32 , two very large incomplete skeletons were found 35 km north of Richmond and partially exposed with dynamite . A total of four tons of fossil-containing rock were sent to Harvard University in Massachusetts and assembled with the help of a lot of plastic in the 1950s, among others by the American paleontologist Alfred Romer . Cynics then gave the 13-meter-long fossil the name "Plasterosaurus" (from English plaster for gypsum). In the meantime, however, it has been found that the skeleton was incorrectly reconstructed and was no longer than nine meters. Romer and colleagues had used too many pegs . A more recent estimate is 10.5 meters and 11 tons as the maximum. In 1992 Oliver Hampe described a second species, K. boyacensis , after a find in 1977 in Villa de Leyva in Colombia .
features
Kronosaurus had 12 neck, 19 to 20 trunk, 4 to 5 sacrum, 3 pelvic and about 31 tail vertebrae and was nine meters long, with a skull length of 2.2 to 2.36 meters. The fins of the Colombian specimen reached a maximum length of 2.62 meters. The skull of the Harvard specimen was very sturdy, high and had a crest of bones. Skulls found later were flatter and clearly different from the Harvard specimen. Even so, they are counted as the same species. The skull may also have been incorrectly reconstructed. The Colombian specimen differs from all other pliosaurs by the thickened ribs and is possibly another genus.
The strong jaw with the strong teeth suggests that Kronosaurus ate less of fish and more of larger prey like other marine reptiles. The fossil of the elasmosaurid Woolungasaurus found in Queensland in 1980 had bite marks of very large teeth. The reptile may have succumbed to an attack by a Kronosaurus .
species
- Kronosaurus queenslandicus , type species
- Kronosaurus boyacensis
literature
- Richard Ellis : Sea Dragons. Predators of the Prehistoric Oceans. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence KS 2003, ISBN 0-7006-1269-6 .
Web links
- Ben Creisler: Plesiosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide www.dinosauria.com, June 11, 2011: Kronosaurus ( Memento of June 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- The Paleobiology Database Kronosaurus
- Kronosaurus at plesiosauria.com
- Holotype in the Queensland Museum
