Thalassomedon hanningtoni
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Thalassomedon Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 95 Ma |
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| Mounted cast of the type specimen, American Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Family: | †Elasmosauridae |
| Genus: |
†Thalassomedon Welles, 1943 |
| Species: | †T. haningtoni |
| Binomial name | |
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Thalassomedon haningtoni Welles, 1943 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Thalassomedon is a genus of plesiosaur, named by Welles in 1943. Greek, thalassa, "sea" and Greek, medon, "lord, ruler": Sea lord.
Thalassomedon is among the largest elasmosaurids, with a total length of 10.86 metres (35.6 ft). The neck is also very long; it comprises 62 vertebrae and is about 5.9 metres (19 ft) - over half of the total length. The skull is 47 centimetres (19 in) long, with 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long teeth. The flippers were about 1.5–2 metres (4.9–6.6 ft) long. Stones have been found in its stomach area leading some to theorize that they were used for ballast or digestion. If the latter, stomach action would cause the stones to help grind ingested food.
This genus of plesiosaur lived in North America, approximately 95 million years ago - this places it during the Cenomanian stage. Its closest relative is Elasmosaurus, and both belong to the family Elasmosauridae. There are six specimens of varying state of preservation on display at various museums in the United States.
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Wikipedia