Meyerasaurus

Meyerasaurus; Temporal range: Early Jurassic, 183–180 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	The holotype in the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Sauropterygia
Order:	†Plesiosauria
Family:	†Rhomaleosauridae
Genus:	†Meyerasaurus; Smith & Vincent, 2010
Species:	†M. victor
Binomial name
	†Meyerasaurus victor; (Fraas, 1910 [originally Plesiosaurus])
Synonyms
	Plesiosaurus victor Fraas, 1910; Thaumatosaurus victor Fraas, 1910; Eurycleidus victor Zittel, 1932; Rhomaleosaurus victor Tarlo, 1960;

Meyerasaurus is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid known from Holzmaden, Baden-Württemberg of southwestern Germany.^[1]

Description

Meyerasaurus is known from the holotype SMNS 12478, articulated and complete skeleton which preserved the skull, exposed in ventral view. The skull has a length of 37 centimetres (15 in; 1.21 ft), and the animal is about 3.35 m (11.0 ft) in length. It was collected from the Harpoceras elegantulum-falciferum ammonoid subzones, Harpoceras falcifer zone, of the famous Posidonien-Schiefer lagerstätte (Posidonia Shale), dating to the early Toarcian stage of the Early Jurassic, about 183-180 million years ago.^[1]

Etymology

Meyerasaurus was first named by Adam S. Smith and Peggy Vincent in 2010 and the type species is Meyerasaurus victor. It was originally classified as a species of Plesiosaurus, later as the second named species of Thaumatosaurus (defunct name, meaning "wonder reptile") and ultimately as a species of Eurycleidus or Rhomaleosaurus. The generic name honors the German palaeontologist Hermann von Meyer for proposing the generic name Thaumatosaurus.^[1]