Westphaliasaurus
Name:
Westphaliasaurus
(Westphalian lizard).
Phonetic: West-fa-lee-ah-sore-us.
Named By: Schwermann & Sander - 2011.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia,
Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria, Plesiosauridae.
Species: W. simonsensii
(type).
Diet: Probably a piscivore.
Size: Estimated at 4.5 meters long.
Known locations: Germany, Westfalen.
Time period: Pliensbachian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Almost complete and still
articulated skeleton, although the skull and upper cervical (neck)
vertebrae are missing.
Because
the skull of Westphaliasaurus is so far unknown it
is impossible to say
for certain what the diet of Westphaliasaurus was.
However most of
the early Jurassic plesiosaurs
were dedicated hunters of fish and
possibly also squid, prey animals that would become a staple part of
the diets of plesiosaurs throughout the Mesozoic. Unless future
discoveries prove otherwise, it’s reasonable to assume that
Westphaliasaurus also had a similar diet.
The
species name W. simonsensii is in honour of S�nke
Simonsen, the
palaeontologist who discovered the remains.
Further reading
- Osteologie und Phylogenie von Westphaliasaurus simonsensii:
Ein neuer
Plesiosauride (Sauropterygia) aus dem Unteren Jura (Pliensbachium) von
Sommersell (Kreis H�xter), Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland. - Geologie
und Pal�ontologie in Westfalen 79:1-60. - L. Schwermann & P. M.
Sander - 2011.
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