Name:
Abyssosaurus (Abyss lizard).
Phonetic: Ah-biss-so-sore-us.
Named By: A. Yu. Berezin - 2011.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria, Cryptoclididae.
Species: A. nataliae (type).
Diet: Piscivore.
Size: Roughly estimated to have been about 7 meters
long. Skull about 30 centimetres long
Known locations: Russia, Chuvashia/Chuvash
Republic.
Time period: Hauterivian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial skull and post
cranial remains.
Abyssosaurus
is a genus of plesiosaur
that lived in Russia during the Early
Cretaceous. At the time of its description Abyssosaurus
was
identified as a link between Late Jurassic forms such as Tatenectes
and
Kimmerosaurus,
and Late Cretaceous forms such as Aristonectes
and
Kaiwhekea.
A slightly later study in 2013 by Benson &
Druckenmiller identified Abyssosaurus as a close
relative of
Colymbosaurus.
Abyssosaurus
is noted as having a strong level of pachyostosis in the
gastralia (belly ribs) as well as the flippers. This is thought
to have made Abyssosaurus less buoyant, but also more stable in
turbulent waters. Abyssosaurus is also noted for having rear flippers
larger than the front flippers. A theory put forward about
Abyssosaurus and similar plesiosaurs (Berezin, 2019) suggests
that these creatures would be efficient divers comfortably capable of
hovering at diagonal angles while they searched the sea floor for prey.
Further reading
- A new plesiosaur of the family Aristonectidae from the Early
Cretaceous of the center of the Russian Platform. - Paleontological
Journal 45(6):648-660. - A. Yu. Berezin - 2011.
- Faunal turnover of marine tetrapods during the Jurassic-Cretaceous
transition. - Biological Reviews. 89 (1): 1–23. - R. B. J. Benton
& P. S. Druckenmiller - 2013.
- Craniology of the Plesiosaur Abyssosaurus nataliae
Berezin
(Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous of the Central
Russian Platform. - Paleontological Journal. 52 (3): 328–341. - A. Y.
Berezin - 2018.
- Morphofunctional features of the plesiosaur Abyssosaurus
nataliae
(Plesiosauroidea: Plesiosauria) in connection with adaptations to a
deep-water lifestyle. - Ministry of National Resources and Ecology of
the Russian Federation [in Russian]. - A. Berezin - 2019.
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