Anarosaurus

An-ah-ro-sore-us.
Published on

Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Anarosaurus

Phonetic

An-ah-ro-sore-us.

Named By

Dames‭ ‬1890.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Sauropterygia, ‬Pachypleurosauroidea.

Diet

Piscivore.

Species

A.‭ ‬pumilo‭

Size

Unavailable.

Known locations

Netherlands.

Time Period

Anisian of the Triassic.

Fossil representation

Fragmentary remains.

In Depth

       Not a lot is known about Anarosaurus due to the very fragmentary remains that are all we currently have.‭ ‬What can be ascertained from the remains however is that Anarosaurus was a pachypleurosaur,‭ ‬small reptiles that‭ ‬in appearance looked somewhere between terrestrial lizards and fully aquatic plesiosaurs.‭ ‬With this in mind Anarosaurus would have been a coastal animal that probably fed in the water,‭ ‬but returned to land to rest.

Further Reading

– Pachypleurosaurs (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Muschelkalk, and a review of the Pachypleurosauroidea. – Fieldiana: Geology, new series (32)1-44. – O. Rieppel & K. Lin – 1995. – Skull morphology of Anarosaurus heterodontus (Reptilia: Sauropterygia: Pachypleurosauria) from the Lower Muschelkalk of the Germanic Basin (Winterswijk, the Netherlands). – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (3): 665. – N. Klein – 2009.

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