Crymocetus Explained

Crymocetus (meaning "cold sea monster") is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous Chalk Group of Sussex, England.[1] It is only known from the type species, which is C. bernardi.

Discovery and naming

The holotype consists of a single posterior cervical vertebra which was discovered in the Chalk Group in Sussex, England. It was first named as Plesiosaurus bernardi by Owen (1850).[2] However, Cope (1869) re-studied the holotype and decided that P. bernardi warranted its own genus, which he named Crymocetus.[3]

After Cope (1869) was published, nearly all subsequent authors tended to disregard the name Crymocetus, with Lydekker (1889) synonymising Crymocetus with Cimoliasaurus.[4]

In any case, Crymocetus is in need of restudy along with other plesiosaurs from the Cretaceous deposits of England.

Classification

Cope (1869) initially classified Crymocetus within Elasmosauridae, while Welles (1962)[5] and Persson (1963)[6] instead considered Crymocetus to be either a member of the Pliosauridae or Rhomaleosauridae. Crymocetus is today classified within Plesiosauria incertae sedis.

See also

Notes and References

  1. A. S. Romer. (1966). Vertebrate Paleontology, 3rd edition 1-468.
  2. Owen, R., (1850), Description of the Fossil Reptiles of the Chalk Formation.
  3. E. D. Cope. (1869). On the reptilian orders Pythonomorpha and Streptosauria. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 12:251-266
  4. Lydekker., R., (1889), Catalogue of the fossil Reptilia and Amphibia in the British Museum (Natural History). Part II. Containing the orders Ichthyopterygia and Sauropterygia: London, Printed by Order of the Trustees of the British Museum, p. 307pp.
  5. Welles, S. P., (1962), A new Species of Elasmosaur from the Aptian of Colombia and a review of the Cretaceous Plesiosaurs: University of California Publications Bulletin Department of Geological Sciences, v. 44, p. 1-89.
  6. Perrson, P. O., (1963), A revision of the classification of the Plesiosauria with a synopsis of the Stratigraphical and geographical distribution of the Group: Lunds Universitets Arksskrift. N. F. Avd. 2, band 59, n 1, p. 60.

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