LEICT G221.1851

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A substantially complete skeleton exposed in dorsal view. The specimen was proposed as a neotype for Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus (= Atychodracon megacephalus) (Cruickshank 1994b). This fossil, nicknamed the ‘Barrow Kipper’ after Barrow-upon-Soar where it was discovered (Taylor and Martin 1990), is on display at the New Walk Museum in Leicester, UK. This specimen has since become a referred specimen (Smith 2015)....

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Thaumatodracon

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The holotype specimen, laid out in dorsal view.

Thaumatodracon is a relatively large rhomaleosaurid from the Lower Jurassic (Sinemurian) of Lyme Bay – the coast between Lyme Regis and Charmouth – UK. The holotype specimen (NLMH 106.058) is an almost complete skull and cervical (neck) series. It has a 60 cm long skull, and based on comparison with other rhomaleosaurids I estimate its total body length to be 6.5...

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Avalonnectes

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The holotype specimen of Avalonnectes (NHMUK OR 14550), on display in the Natural History Museum, London. Photo by Chris Crump.

Avalonnectes is a small-bodied basal rhomaleosaurid. Avalonnectes was named by Benson, Evans and Druckenmiller (2012) for a partial skeleton including the rear part of the skull from the lowermost Jurassic of Street, Somerset, UK. The specimen (NHMUK PV OR 14550) was previously referred to Thalassiodracon hawkinsii and is one of many historical plesiosaur skeletons preserved on slabs on display in...

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Stratesaurus

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Stratesaurus skull reconstruction in lateral view. From Benson, Evans and Taylor (2015).

Stratesaurus is a very small-bodied basal plesiosaur known from the lowermost Jurassic (Blue Lias Formation) of Street, Somerset . Stratesaurus is represented by three specimens. The holotype specimen (OUMNH J.10337) was named and briefly described by Benson, Evans and Druckenmiller (2012), and later described in detail along with two referred specimens by Benson, Evans and Taylor (2015). The genus contains...

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Thalassiodracon

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Thalassiodracon lectotype specimen (NHMUK 2018*).

The species Plesiosaurus hawkinsii was introduced in 1838 for a small plesiosaurian from Street, Somerset. The new genus name Thalassiodracon was erected decades later following an examination of a referred skull in Cambridge (CAMSM J.46986). Thalassiodracon is from the Rhaetian-Hettangian boundary, so it is latest Triassic or earliest Jurassic in age. Thalassiodracon means ‘Sea Dragon’, which “alludes to the colloquial...

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