Vinialesaurus

Name: Vinialesaurus ‭(‬Viñales lizard‭).
Phonetic: Vine-al-e-sore-us.
Named By: Z.‭ ‬Gasparini,‭ ‬N.‭ ‬Bardet‭ & ‬M.‭ ‬Iturralde-Vinent‭ ‬-‭ ‬2002.
Synonyms: Cryptocleidus caroli.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Sauropterygia,‭ ‬Plesiosauria,‭ ‬Plesiosauroidea,‭ ‬Cryptoclididae.
Species: V.‭ ‬caroli‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Cuba,‭ ‬Pinar del Río‭ ‬-‭ ‬Jagua Formation.
Time period: Oxfordian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Skull.

       The holotype remains of Vinialesaurus were initially known as a species‭ ‬of Cryptoclidus when it was first described in‭ ‬1949,‭ ‬but later study has now revealed that there is enough difference between the Vinialesaurus holotype remains of other fossils of Cryptoclidus.‭ ‬As a cryptoclidid plesiosaur,‭ ‬Vinialesaurus would have likely been one of the more common forms of plesiosaur in the mid-late Jurassic,‭ ‬using its long neck to gain extended reach when hunting fish.‭ ‬Vinialesaurus shared the waters it swam in with the pliosaur Gallardosaurus,‭ ‬while the skies above saw the pterosaurs Cacibupteryx and Nesodactylus flying overhead.




Further reading
- A new cryptoclidid plesiosaur from the Oxofrdian (Late Jurassic) of Cuba. - Geobios 35:201-211. - Z. Gasparini, N. Bardet & M. Iturralde-Vinent - 2002.

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