Plesioplatecarpus

Name: Plesioplatecarpus ‭(‬near Platecarpus‭)‬.
Phonetic: Ple-se-o-plat-e-kar-pus.
Named By: T.‭ ‬Konishi‭ & ‬M.‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Caldwell‭ ‬-‭ ‬2011.
Synonyms: Clidastes planifrons,‭ ‬Platecarpus planifrons.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Squamata,‭ ‬Mosasauridae,‭ ‬Plioplatecarpinae,‭ ‬Plioplatecarpini.
Species: P.‭ ‬planifrons‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Roughly estimated to be about‭ ‬4.8-5‭ ‬meters long.
Known locations: USA.
Time period: Coniacian/Santonian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Several individuals,‭ ‬some almost complete.

       Plesioplatecarpus was initially named as a species of the genus Clidastes by Edward Drinker Cope back in‭ ‬1874‭ ‬during a period dubbed the‭ ‘‬bone wars‭’‬.‭ ‬Later this species was assigned to the genus Platecarpus,‭ ‬before finally being named as an independent genus in‭ ‬2011.‭ ‬Although different to Platecarpus,‭ ‬Plesioplatecarpus is still recognised as being very similar,‭ ‬hence the name which actually means‭ ‘‬near Platecarpus‭’‬.
       Plesioplatecarpus seems to have been towards the smaller end of the scale for mosasaurs,‭ ‬and was more likely to be an active fast swimming predator of fish as opposed to an apex predator of other marine reptiles.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Two new plioplatecarpine‭ (‬Squamata,‭ ‬Mosasauridae‭) ‬genera from the Upper Cretaceous of North America,‭ ‬and a global phylogenetic analysis of plioplatecarpines.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology‭ ‬31‭(‬4‭)‬:754-783.‭ ‬-‭ ‬T.‭ ‬Konishi‭ & ‬M.‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Caldwell‭ ‬-‭ ‬2011.



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