Basic info Taxonomic history Classification Included Taxa
Morphology Ecology and taphonomy External Literature Search Age range and collections

Elasmosaurus platyurus

Reptilia - Plesiosauria - Elasmosauridae

Taxonomy
Elasmosaurus platyurus was named by Cope (1868) [not ANSP 18001]. Its type specimen is ANSP 10081, a skeleton (a skeleton lacking only the skull and paddles, the girdles have since been lost), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Elasmosaurus type, McAllaster Butte, which is in a Campanian/Campanian marine horizon in the Pierre Shale Formation of Kansas.

It was recombined as Cimoliosaurus platyurus by Lydekker (1889).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1868Discosaurus carinatus Cope
1868Elasmosaurus platyurus Cope p. 264
1869Elasmosaurus platyurus Cope p. 48
1889Cimoliosaurus platyurus Lydekker p. 181
1902Elasmosaurus platyurus Hay p. 458
1903Elasmosaurus platyurus Williston p. 8
1906Elasmosaurus platyurus Williston p. 225
1928Elasmosaurus platyurus Perrier p. 3090
1930Elasmosaurus platyurus Hay p. 118
1943Elasmosaurus platyurus Welles pp. 208-209
1949Elasmosaurus platyurus Welles
1962Elasmosaurus platyurus Welles pp. 3 & 64 fig. 14
1999Elasmosaurus platyurus Carpenter p. 150
1999Elasmosaurus platyurus Storrs p. 3
2005Elasmosaurus platyurus Sachs

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
RankNameAuthor
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
—Sauropsida
classReptilia
subclassEureptilia()
—Romeriida
—Diapsida()
suborderSauropterygia
orderPlesiosauriade Blainville 1835
superfamilyPlesiosauroideaWelles 1943
familyElasmosauridaeCope 1869
—Euelasmosaurida
—Elasmosaurinae
genusElasmosaurus
speciesplatyurus

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

show all | hide all
Invalid names: Discosaurus carinatus Cope 1868 [objective synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatiteo
Environment: marineo
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: aquatico
Depth habitat: surfaceo
Diet: carnivoreo
Reproduction: viviparouso
Created: 2009-07-20 06:05:48
Modified: 2011-08-12 01:58:15
Source: o = order
Reference: Kiessling 2004

Age range: base of the Early/Lower Campanian to the top of the Middle Campanian or 83.50000 to 70.60000 Ma

Collections: one only


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Early/Lower Campanian - Middle Campanian83.5 - 70.6USA (Kansas) Elasmosaurus platyurus (type locality: 77321)