Tuarangisaurus

Tuarangisaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 78 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
250px
Skeleton restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Sauropterygia
Order:	†Plesiosauria
Clade:	†Xenopsaria
Family:	†Elasmosauridae
Genus:	†Tuarangisaurus Wiffen & Moisley, 1986
Species:	† T. keyesi
Binomial name
Tuarangisaurus keyesi Wiffen & Moisley, 1986

Tuarangisaurus (meaning in Maori tuarangi "ancient" + Gr. sauros "lizard") is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from New Zealand. Tuarangisaurus is known from the holotype NZGS CD425, a nearly complete skull and mandible and from NZGS CD426, nine anterior-most cervical vertebrae. Some postcranial remains of juveniles were also attributed to Tuarangisaurus. It was collected from the Tahora Formation, dating to the middle Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous, about 78 million years ago. It was first named by Wiffen and Moisley in 1985. The type and only known species is Tuarangisaurus keyesi. The estimated length is about 8 meters.

See also

• List of plesiosaur genera
• Timeline of plesiosaur research

References

• Sachs, S. (2005). "Tuarangisaurus australis sp. nov. (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of northeastern Queensland, with additional notes on the phylogeny of the Elasmosauridae". Memoirs of the Queensland Museum. 50: 2, p 425-440 ISSN 0079-8835.