Umoonasaurus

Umoonasaurus; Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Aptian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Umoonasaurus demoscyllus from the Early Cretaceous of Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Plesiosauria
Suborder:	Plesiosauroidea
Family:	Leptocleididae
Genus:	Umoonasaurus
Species:	U. demoscyllus
Binomial name
	Umoonasaurus demoscyllus; Kear, Schroeder & Lee, 2006

Umoonasaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur^[1] belonging to the family Leptocleididae.^[3] This genus lived approximately 115 million years ago (Aptian-Albian) in shallow seas covering parts of what is now Australia. It was a relatively small animal around 2.5 m (8 ft) long. An identifying trait of Umoonasaurus is three crest-ridges on its skull.^[2]

Umoonasaurus is known from a relatively complete skeleton preserved as opal from Coober Pedy in South Australia. This specimen was prepared by Paul Willis at the Australian Museum, Sydney, and became the focus of a nationwide fundraising appeal coordinated by ABC TV's Quantum program.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ ^a ^b Ketchum, H. F., and Benson, R. B. J. (2010). "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses". Biological Reviews. 85: 361–392. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00107.x. PMID 20002391.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Kear BP, Schroeder NI, Lee MSY. 2006. An archaic crested plesiosaur in opal from the Lower Cretaceous high-latitude deposits of Australia. Biology Letters 2: 615–619.
^ Smith AS, Dyke GJ. 2008. The skull of the giant predatory pliosaur Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni: implications for plesiosaur phylogenetics. Naturwissenschaften e-published 2008.

External links

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[Ketchum2010-1] Ketchum, H. F., and Benson, R. B. J. (2010). "Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses". Biological Reviews. 85: 361–392. doi:10.1111/j.1469-185X.2009.00107.x. PMID 20002391.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[Kear_et_al.,_2006-2] Kear BP, Schroeder NI, Lee MSY. 2006. An archaic crested plesiosaur in opal from the Lower Cretaceous high-latitude deposits of Australia. Biology Letters 2: 615–619.

[Smith_&_Dyke,_2008-3] Smith AS, Dyke GJ. 2008. The skull of the giant predatory pliosaur Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni: implications for plesiosaur phylogenetics. Naturwissenschaften e-published 2008.

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[3]

See also

References

External links