Genus
Valid Extinct

Pantosaurus

Marsh 1893

Pantosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) of what is now Wyoming. It lived in what used to be the Sundance Sea. It was originally named Parasaurus by Othniel Charles Marsh in reference to Plesiosaurus, but that name was preoccupied, and Marsh changed it. The species Muraenosaurus reedii is in fact a junior synonym of Pantosaurus. The holotype YPM 543 is a partial articulated skeleton, partially prepared to yield a distal humerus, four articulated carpals, a fragment of the coracoid, and several isolated cervical vertebrae from the Upper Member of the Sundance Formation. Other material includes USNM 536963, USNM 536965, UW 3, UW 5544 and UW 15938.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
6
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Carnivore aquatic, depth=surface Marine
Pantosaurus
click to enlarge
Muraenosaurus? Reedii, Sp. Nov. and Tricleidus? Laramiensis Knight, American Jurassic Plesiosaurs © Maurice G Mehl · Public domain · Wikimedia
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PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
Plesiosauria Order
Plesiosauroidea Superfamily
Cryptoclididae Family
Pantosaurus Genus
Fossil sites 6 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇺🇸 United States
6
Geological formations
Sundance
6
Temporal distribution
Oxfordian (161.5–154.8 Ma)
6
Species (2)
Muraenosaurus reedii subjective synonym of Pantosaurus striatus 162 Ma
Pantosaurus striatus 162 Ma
Synonyms (1)
Parasaurus replaced by Pantosaurus
Images 7
Bibliography
Original description
J. J., Jr. Sepkoski. 2002. A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560
Bibliography (4)
B. C. Wilhelm and F. R. O'Keefe. 2010. A new partial skeleton of a cryptocleidoid plesiosaur from the Upper Jurassic Sundance Formation of Wyoming. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(6):1736-1742 DOI ↗
F. R. O'Keefe, H. P. Street, and J. P. Cavigelli, J. J. Socha, R. D. O.'Keefe. 2009. A plesiosaur containing an ichthyosaur embryo as stomach contents from the Sundance Formation of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(4):1306-1310 DOI ↗
F. R. O'Keefe and W. Wahl, Jr. 2003. Current taxonomic status of the plesiosaur Pantosaurus striatus from the Upper Jurassic Sundance Formation, Wyoming. Paludicola 4(2):37-46
F. R. O'Keefe and W. Wahl. 2003. Current taxonomic status of the plesiosaur Pantosaurus striatus from the Upper Jurassic Sundance Formation, Wyoming. Paludicola 4(2):37-46