Sinopliosaurus

Sinopliosaurus (meaning "Chinese more lizard"; in reference to Pliosaurus) is a genus of pliosauroid plesiosaur, a type of short-necked marine reptile, from the Aptian until Albian (disputed Sinopliosaurus remains have been dated to the Toarcian age) of the People's Republic of China. The type species, Sinopliosaurus weiyuanensis, was named and described in 1944 by Yang Zhongjian.[1] One species, "S." fusuiensis, was later shown to be based on teeth from a spinosaurid theropod dinosaur which is now known as Siamosaurus.[2] S. weiyuanensis would have lived near a coastal environment and lived alongside the sauropod Sanpasaurus yaoi and an undescribed stegosaur genus.[1]

Sinopliosaurus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, Aptian–Albian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Sauropterygia
Order:	†Plesiosauria
Family:	†Pliosauridae
Genus:	†Sinopliosaurus Young, 1944
Type species
†Sinopliosaurus weiyuanensis Young, 1944

The holotype, IVPP V140, consists of three vertebrae and a tooth, discovered in a layer of the Ziliujing Formation.[1]

See also

• List of plesiosaur genera
• Timeline of plesiosaur research

References

1. C.-C. Young. 1944. On the reptilian remains from Weiyuan, Szechuan, China. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 24(3–4):187-205
2. Buffetaut, E.; Suteethorn, V.; Tong, H.; Amiot, R. (2008). "An Early Cretaceous spinosaur theropod from southern China". Geological Magazine. 145 (5): 745–748. doi:10.1017/S0016756808005360.