Stenorhynchosaurus
Name:
Stenorhynchosaurus
(narrow snout lizard).
Phonetic: Sten-o-ryn-ko-sor-us.
Named By: Mar�a E. P�ramo, Marcela G�mez-P�rez,
Leslie F. No�, Fernando Etayo - 2016.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria, Pliosauridae.
Species: S. munozi (type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Holotype roughly about 4.3 meters long.
Known locations: Colombia - Paja Formation.
Time period: Barremian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skull and
post cranial skeleton.
Fossil
remains of Stenorhynchosaurus were first discovered
in 2000, and
later excavation of the fossil site between 2004 and 2005
revealed an almost complete skeleton. Also in 2005,
paleontologist Oliver Hempe came to the theory that this pliosaur
possibly represented a species of the genus Brachauchenius.
Later
more detailed study however identified this pliosaur as a distinct
genus, and hence Stenorhynchosaurus became
established as the new
name.
Stenorhynchosaurus
is noted for having a narrow snout, which is also the main
inspiration for the name. At a little over four meters in length for
the holotype individual, Stenorhynchosaurus was
small when compared
to some of the monster pliosaurs such as Pliosaurus,
and was likely a
hunter of smaller aquatic organisms such as fish.
Further reading
- Considerations on a Brachauchenius skeleton
(Pliosauroidea)
from the lower Paja Formation (late Barremian) of Villa de Leyva
area (Colombia). Fossil Record - Mitteilungen aus dem Museum
f�r Naturkunde in Berlin 8 (1): 37-51. - Oliver Hampe -
2005.
- Stenorhynchosaurus munozi, gen. et sp.
nov. a new
pliosaurid from the Upper Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of Villa de
Leiva, Colombia, South America. - Revista de la Academia
Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, F�sicas y Naturales. 40 (154):
84–103. - Mar�a E. P�ramo, Marcela G�mez-P�rez, Leslie F.
No�, Fernando Etayo - 2016.
- A new specimen of Stenorhynchosaurus munozi
P�ramo-Fonseca et al.,
2016 (Plesiosauria, Pliosauridae), from the Barremian of Colombia: new
morphological features and ontogenetic implications. - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology Volume 39, 2019 - Issue 4. - Mar�a E.
P�ramo-Fonseca, Cristian D. Benavides-Cabra & Ingry E.
Guti�rrez - 2019.
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