Vectocleidus

Post author:Adam S. Smith
Post published:19/10/2020
Post category:Genus page Leptocleididae Plesiosauria Plesiosauroidea

Vectocleidus material on display in the Dinosaur Isle Museum, Isle of Wight, UK.

The name Vectocleidus was erected by Benson et al. (2012b) for a leptocleidid from the Early Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, UK. The type specimen was previously referred to Leptocleidus sp. Vectocleidus can be confidently identified as a leptocleidid but its position within the clade is unstable (Benson et al. (2012b).…

Leptocleidus

Post author:Adam S. Smith
Post published:22/07/2018
Post category:Genus page Leptocleididae Plesiosauria Plesiosauroidea

Skull of Leptocleidus capensis in lateral view (from Cruickshank, 1997)

Lower Cretaceous plesiosaurs are rare, so Leptocleidus is important because it fills a gap in the fossil record of plesiosaurians. Leptocleidus was once considered to be a late surviving member of the family Rhomaleosauridae but it has recently been reidentified as a close relative of polycotylids. The fossils of all known species…