Genus
Valid Extinct

Tuarangisaurus

Wiffen and Moisley 1986

Tuarangisaurus is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from New Zealand and Argentina. The type and only known species is Tuarangisaurus keyesi, named by "Pont" Wiffen, Joan Wiffen and Bill Moisley in 1986. The specific name honours Ian W. Keyes of the New Zealand Geological Survey.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
7
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Carnivore aquatic, depth=surface Marine
Tuarangisaurus
click to enlarge
Tuarangisaurus cabazai skeleton restoration, Copenhagen © FunkMonk · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia
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Tuarangisaurus
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PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
›
Plesiosauria Order
›
Plesiosauroidea Superfamily
›
Elasmosauridae Family
›
Weddellonectia Unranked clade
›
Tuarangisaurus Genus
Measurements
Length
8 m ⓘ
Fossil sites 7 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇳🇿 New Zealand
5
🇦🇴 Angola
1
🇦🇷 Argentina
1
Geological formations
Tahora
4
Conway
1
Mocuio
1
Lefipán
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
2
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
5
Species (1)
Tuarangisaurus keyesi 84 Ma
Images 6
Bibliography
Original description
J. Wiffen and W. L. Moisley. 1986. Late Cretaceous reptiles (families Elasmosauridae and Pliosauridae) from the Mangahouanga Stream, North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 29(2):205-252 DOI ↗
Bibliography (5)
J. O’Gorman, R. Scasso, and F. Medina. 2026. The first record of Tuarangisaurus (Sauropterygia, Plesiosauria) from the Maastrichtian of the Lefipán Formation, Chubut, Argentina. Palaeontologia Electronica 29(2):1-39 DOI ↗
R. A. Otero, J. P. O'Gorman, and W. L. Moisley, M. Terezow, J. A. W. McKee. 2018. A juvenile Tuarangisaurus keyesi Wiffen and Moisley 1986 (Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of New Zealand, with remarks on its skull ontogeny. Cretaceous Research 85:214-231 DOI ↗
N. Hiller, J. P. O'Gorman, and R. A. Otero, A. A. Mannering. 2017. A reappraisal of the Late Cretaceous Weddellian plesiosaur genus Mauisaurus Hector, 1874. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 60(2):112-128 DOI ↗
O. Mateus, M. J. Polcyn, and L. L. Jacobs, R. Arujo, A. S. Schulp, J. Marinheiro, B. Pereira, D. P. Vineyard. 2012. Cretaceous amniotes from Angola: dinosaurs, pterosaurs, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, turtles. Actas de V Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontologia de Dinosaurios y su Entorno, Salas de los Infantes, Burgos
J. Wiffen and W. L. Moisley. 1986. Late Cretaceous reptiles (families Elasmosauridae and Pliosauridae) from the Mangahouanga Stream, North Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 29(2):205-252 DOI ↗