Trinacromerum
Trinacromerum is an extinct genus of sauropterygian reptile, a member of the polycotylid plesiosaurs. It contains two species, T. bentonianum and T. kirki. Specimens have been discovered in the Late Cretaceous fossil deposits of what is now modern Kansas and Manitoba.[1]
| Trinacromerum Temporal range: Late Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
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| Mounted T. kirki cast at the Royal Ontario Museum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Family: | †Polycotylidae |
| Genus: | †Trinacromerum Cragin, 1888 |
| Species | |
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Description
Trinacromerum with a human to scale
Trinacromerum was 3 meters (9.8 feet) long. Its teeth show that it fed on small fish.[1]
The long flippers of Trinacromerum enabled it to achieve high swimming speeds.[1] Its physical appearance was described by Richard Ellis as akin to a "four-flippered penguin."[2] Its name means "three tipped femur".
Classification
T. bentonianum life restoration
Below is a cladogram of polycotylid relationships from Ketchum & Benson, 2011.[3]
| Plesiosauroidea |
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See also
- List of plesiosaur genera
- Timeline of plesiosaur research
References
- Ellis, Richard (2003). Sea Dragons: Predators of the Prehistoric Oceans. University Press of Kansas. p. 189. ISBN 0-7006-1269-6.
- Ellis, 190
- Hilary F. Ketchum; Roger B. J. Benson (2011). "A new pliosaurid (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Oxford Clay Formation (Middle Jurassic, Callovian) of England: evidence for a gracile, longirostrine grade of Early-Middle Jurassic pliosaurids". Special Papers in Palaeontology. 86: 109–129.
External links
Wikispecies has information related to Trinacromerum.
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