Discosaurus Explained

Discosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Santonian of Alabama and Mississippi.^[1] One species is known, which is D. vestutus.

Discovery and naming

The holotype, eleven vertebrae, was discovered by Joseph Jones in Alabama and Mississippi, and was named and described as Discosaurus vestutus by Leidy (1851).^[2] Two more specimens from New Jersey were described and were later re-classified as belonging to Cimoliasaurus magnus by Leidy (1870b).^[3]

Leidy (1870b) later argued that Discosaurus was the same animal as Elasmosaurus.

See also

• Timeline of plesiosaur research
• List of plesiosaurs

Notes and References

1. Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America, Issue 179 by Oliver Perry Hay
2. Leidy, J. (1851). Descriptions of a number of fossil reptiles and mammals. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 5:325-328.
3. Leidy, J., (1870). Discosaurus and its allies. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil. 22:18-22.