User:Amirani1746/sandbox5
Description[edit]
Skull[edit]
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Since the holotype of K. queenslandicus (QM F1609) consists of only a partial mandibular symphysis, very little can be said about it. However, more complete fossil skulls that are assigned to the taxon show unique traits.[1][2][3] The skulls of various known specimens of Kronosaurus vary in size. The holotype, which although partial and fragmentary, comes from a skull which would have measured a total of 1.31 metres (4.3 ft) long. Candidate neotype specimens QM F10113 and QM F18827 have cranial lengths reaching 1.87–1.98 metres (6.1–6.5 ft), respectively.[4] The skull of the Harvard skeleton is estimated to be 2.85 metres (9.4 ft) long.[5][a] The cranial measurements of the last three specimens previously cited surpass in size the skull of any known theropod dinosaurs.[9] The snout and the mandibular rostrum are long and narrow in shape.[1] The eye sockets face posteriorly, where they are located laterally on the anterior half of the skull.[10] The temporal fossae are very large,[10] but does not have an anterior interpterygoid vacuity.[1]
One of the many traits identified as unique in Kronosaurus is that the premaxilla has 4 caniniform teeth.[1][10][11][3] Like its close relatives Brachauchenius and Megacephalosaurus, the mandibular symphysis of Kronosaurus contains up to 6 pairs of teeth.[1][10][11] Each dentary (the tooth-bearing bone in the mandible) have up to 26 teeth.[11]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Many previous estimates of the skull size of this skeleton have been proposed throughout descriptions. In 1935, White proposed that the skull would reach a length of 3.72 metres (12.2 ft),[6] while McHenry gives a smaller estimate of 2.21 metres (7.3 ft) in 2009.[7] Knutsen et al. (2012) further reduced the skull length of this specimen at 2.19 metres (7.2 ft).[8]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Kear 2003, p. 291.
- ^ McHenry 2009, p. 448-449.
- ^ a b Poropat et al. 2023, p. 148-151.
- ^ McHenry 2009, p. 271.
- ^ Roger B. J. Benson; Mark Evans; Adam S. Smith; Judyth Sassoon; Scott Moore-Faye; Hilary F. Ketchum; Richard Forrest (2013). "A Giant Pliosaurid Skull from the Late Jurassic of England". PLOS ONE. 8 (5): e65989. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...865989B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065989. PMC 3669260. PMID 23741520.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
White1935was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ McHenry 2009, p. 400.
- ^ Espen M. Knutsen; Patrick S. Druckenmiller; Jørn H. Hurum (2012). "A new species of Pliosaurus (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the Middle Volgian of central Spitsbergen, Norway" (PDF). Norwegian Journal of Geology. 92: 235–258. ISSN 0029-196X.
- ^ "Sauropterygia: Pliosauroidea: Pliosauridae". Palaeos.
- ^ a b c d McHenry 2009, p. 276-277.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
Holland2018was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Bibliography[edit]
- Welles, Samuel P. (1962). "A new species of elasmosaur from the Aptian of Colombia and a review of the Cretaceous plesiosaurs" (PDF). University of California Publications in Geological Sciences. 44 (1): 1–96. OCLC 5734397. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-04.
- Molnar, Ralph E. (1991) [1982], "Fossil reptiles in Australia", in Vickers-Rich, Patricia (ed.), Vertebrate palaeontology of Australasia, Susan Crooke Memorial Collection, Monash University Publications Committee, pp. 605–702, doi:10.5962/bhl.title.60647, OCLC 7390883978, S2CID 84093645
- Long, John A. (1998). Dinosaurs of Australia and New Zealand and other animals of the Mesozoic era. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-20767-7.
- O’Keefe, F. Robin (2001). "A cladistic analysis and taxonomic revision of the Plesiosauria (Reptilia: Sauropterygia)". ActaZoologica Fennica. 213: 1–63. S2CID 82936031.
- Ellis, Richard (2003). Sea Dragons: Predators of the Prehistoric Oceans. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1394-6.
- Kear, Benjamin P. (2003). "Cretaceous marine reptiles of Australia: a review of taxonomy and distribution" (PDF). Cretaceous Research. 24 (3): 277–303. Bibcode:2003CrRes..24..277K. doi:10.1016/S0195-6671(03)00046-6. S2CID 128619215.
- McHenry, Colin R. (2009). Devourer of Gods: The palaeoecology of the Cretaceous pliosaur Kronosaurus queenslandicus (Thesis). The University of Newcastle. hdl:1959.13/935911. S2CID 132852950.
- Poropat, Stephen F.; Bell, Phil R.; Hart, Lachlan J.; Salisbury, Steven W.; Kear, Benjamin P. (2023). "An annotated checklist of Australian Mesozoic tetrapods". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 47 (2): 129–205. Bibcode:2023Alch...47..129P. doi:10.1080/03115518.2023.2228367. S2CID 261698144.
External links[edit]
- Kronosaurus informations and photos, The Plesiosaur Directory
- McQuaid, Chelsea (8 February 2021). "Specimen Spotlight-Kronosaurus". Harvard Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on 11 May 2024 – via YouTube.
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