Genus
Valid Extinct

Umoonasaurus

Kear et al. 2006

Umoonasaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur belonging to the family Leptocleididae. This genus lived approximately 115 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period, in shallow seas covering parts of what is now Australia. It was a relatively small animal around 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) long. An identifying trait of Umoonasaurus is the presence of three crest-ridges on its skull.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
4
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Carnivore aquatic, depth=surface Marine
Umoonasaurus
click to enlarge
"Eric", a near-complete opalized specimen of the plesiosaur Umoonasaurus at the Australian Museum © Geekgecko · CC0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
›
Plesiosauria Order
›
Plesiosauroidea Superfamily
›
Leptocleidia Unranked clade
›
Leptocleididae Family
›
Umoonasaurus Genus
Fossil sites 4 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇦🇺 Australia
4
Geological formations
Bulldog Shale
4
Temporal distribution
Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)
3
Aptian (121.4–113.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Umoonasaurus demoscyllus 121 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
B. P. Kear, N. I. Schroeder, and M. S. Y. Lee. 2006. An archaic crested plesiosaur in opal from the Lower Cretaceous high-latitude deposits of Australia. Biology Letters 2:615-619 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
B. P. Kear, N. I. Schroeder, and M. S. Y. Lee. 2006. An archaic crested plesiosaur in opal from the Lower Cretaceous high-latitude deposits of Australia. Biology Letters 2:615-619 DOI ↗