Piratosaurus

Piratosaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
Holotype tooth USNM V 1000
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: †Sauropterygia
Order: †Plesiosauria
Genus: †Piratosaurus
Leidy, 1865
Type species
†Piratosaurus plicatus
Leidy, 1865
Synonyms
  • Pyritosaurus (sic)

Piratosaurus (meaning "pirate lizard") is a dubious genus of plesiosaur possibly belonging to the Polycotylidae that is known exclusively from the type species P. plicatus, named and described by Joseph Leidy in 1865. It is known only from the holotype, USNM V 1000, a tooth, discovered in Late Cretaceous-aged rocks in the Red River basin of Manitoba; at least one researcher erroneously assumed it was found in Minnesota.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Hay, O. P. (1930). Second Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America 390(II):1-1074
  2. ↑ J. J. Sepkoski. (2002). A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560
  3. ↑ Leidy, J. (1865). Cretaceous reptiles of the United States. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge 192:1-135