Muraenosaurus
Name:
Muraenosaurus
(Moray eel lizard).
Phonetic: Mu-ray-noe-sore-us.
Named By: Harry Govier Seeley.
Synonyms: Cimoliasaurus durobrivensis,
Cimoliosaurus durobrivensis, Cimoliosaurus plicatus, Cryptocleidus
cuervoi, Muraenosaurus durobrivensis, Muraenosaurus platyclis,
Muraenosaurus plicatus, Picrocleidus beloclis, Tremamesacleis
durobrivensis, Tremamesacleis platycleis.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria.
Species: M. leedsii
(type), M. beloclis.
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Around 6 meters long.
Known locations: England. France.
Time period: Callovian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Multiple individuals.
Muraenosaurus
was a Jurassic era plesiosaur
similar to the much more famous
Plesiosaurus,
although Muraenosaurus actually seems to have had
a
proportionately longer neck. This is likely an adaptation that would
have helped it to catch fish. It’s probable however that
Muraenosaurus itself was targeted by large Jurassic
era pliosaurs such
as Liopleurodon,
Pliosaurus
and possibly Simolestes.
The
name Muraenosaurus is
based upon the Muraenidae, a group of eels that are better known by
the more common name of moray eels. There long bodies do resemble the
necks of plesiosaurs, though obviously they are still very different
animals to what the plesiosaurs were. As a genus Muraenosaurus
should
not be confused with Morenosaurus,
another plesiosaur but from the
late Cretaceous era.
Further reading
- On Muraenosaurus leedsii, a plesiosaurian from
the Oxford Clay, Part
I. - Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 30:197-208.
- H. G. Seeley - 1874.
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