Genus
Valid Extinct

Gronausaurus

Hampe 2013

Brancasaurus is a genus of plesiosaur which lived in a freshwater lake in the Early Cretaceous of what is now North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a long neck possessing vertebrae bearing distinctively-shaped "shark fin"-shaped neural spines, and a relatively small and pointed head, Brancasaurus is superficially similar to Elasmosaurus, albeit smaller in size at 3.26 metres (10.7 ft) in length as a subadult.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Carnivore aquatic, depth=surface Marine
Gronausaurus
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Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
›
Plesiosauria Order
›
Plesiosauroidea Superfamily
›
Elasmosauridae Family
›
Gronausaurus Genus
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇩🇪 Germany
1
Geological formations
Bückeberg
1
Temporal distribution
Berriasian (143.1–137.05 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Gronausaurus wegneri 139 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
O. Hampe. 2013. The forgotten remains of a leptocleidid plesiosaur (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauroidea) from the Early Cretaceous of Gronau (Münsterland, Westphalia, Germany). Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 87:473-491 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
O. Hampe. 2013. The forgotten remains of a leptocleidid plesiosaur (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauroidea) from the Early Cretaceous of Gronau (Münsterland, Westphalia, Germany). Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 87:473-491 DOI ↗