Genus
Valid Extinct

Simolestes

Andrews 1909

Simolestes is an extinct pliosaurid genus that lived in the Middle to Late Jurassic. The type specimen, NHMUK PV R 3319 is an almost complete but crushed skeleton diagnostic to Simolestes vorax, dating back to the Callovian of the Oxford Clay formation, England. The genus might also be known from the Tithonian Bhuj Formation of India, but the referral of this species to Simolestes is dubious. S. keileni from France was moved to the new genus Lorrainosaurus in 2023.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
5
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Carnivore nektonic Marine
Simolestes
click to enlarge
Symphysis of the mandible of Plesiosaurus indicus from Kachchh, Gujarat, with a total estimated length of 3.55 inches. © Richard Lydekker · Public domain · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
›
Plesiosauria Order
›
Pliosauroidea Superfamily
›
Pliosauridae Family
›
Thalassophonea Unranked clade
›
Simolestes Genus
Fossil sites 5 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
2
🇮🇳 India
2
🇫🇷 France
1
Geological formations
Oxford Clay
2
Umia
2
Marnes de Gravelotte (=La Gravclotte Marls)
1
Temporal distribution
Tithonian (149.2–143.1 Ma)
2
Callovian (165.3–161.5 Ma)
2
Bajocian (170.9–168.2 Ma)
1
Species (4)
Simolestes indicus 149 Ma
Simolestes keileni 169 Ma
Simolestes vorax 165 Ma
Thaumatosaurus calloviensis subjective synonym of Simolestes vorax 165 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
C. W. Andrews. 1909. On some new Plesiosauria from the Oxford Clay of Peterborough. Annals And Magazine of Natural History 4:418-429 DOI ↗
Bibliography (5)
H. F. Ketchum and R. B. J. Benson. 2010. Global interrelationships of Plesiosauria (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses. Biological Reviews 85:361-392 DOI ↗
P. Godefroit. 1994. Simolestes keileni sp. nov., un Pliosaure (Plesiosauria, Reptilia) du Bajocien supérieur de Lorraine (France). Bulletin des Académie et Société Lorraines des sciences 33(2):77-95
K. K. Verma, P. P. Satsangi, and S. Srivastava, S. Mehra. 1979. On a plesiosaurian vertebra from the Upper Gondwanas of Kutch, Gujarat, India. IV International Gondwana Symposium, Calcutta (1977) 1: Papers:217-220
L. B. Tarlo. 1960. A review of Upper Jurassic pliosaurs. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Geology Series 14(5):147-189
R. Lydekker. 1877. Notices of new and other Vertebrata from Indian Tertiary and Secondary rocks. Records of the Geological Survey of India 10(1):30-43