Spitrasaurus

Spitrasaurus Temporal range: Tithonian ~150–145 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Life restoration
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Superorder:	†Sauropterygia
Order:	†Plesiosauria
Family:	†Cryptoclididae
Genus:	†Spitrasaurus Knutsen, Druckenmiller & Hurum, 2012
Species
†S. wensaasi Knutsen, Druckenmiller & Hurum, 2012 (type) †S. larseni Knutsen, Druckenmiller & Hurum, 2012

Spitrasaurus is an extinct genus of cryptoclidid^[1] plesiosauroid plesiosaur known from the uppermost Jurassic of central Spitsbergen, Norway^[2] and likely also Kimmeridge, England.^[3] It is named after a syllabic abbreviation for Spitsbergen Travel. Two species have been named: Spitrasaurus wensaasi, honouring volunteer Tommy Wensås, and Spitrasaurus larseni honouring volunteer Stig Larsen.

The holotype, found in 2004, of S. wensaasi is PMO 219 718 and consists of sixty articulated cervical vertebrae and other postcranial material from a juvenile,^[2] and the holotype of S. larseni, found in 2010, is SVB 1450, a juvenile skeleton which consists of cervical vertebrae but also of skull material.^[2]

A cervical vertebra, MANCH LL 5519c, was found in the Kimmeridge Clay Formation in England and was tentatively assigned to cf. Spitrasaurus in 2014 after being compared to Colymbosaurus megadeirus,^[3] while more possible Spitrasaurus vertebrae found at Kimmeridge reside within the collection of Steve Etches.

See also

• List of plesiosaur genera
• Timeline of plesiosaur research

References

1. Benson, R. B. J.; Druckenmiller, P. S. (2013). "Faunal turnover of marine tetrapods during the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition". Biological Reviews. 89 (1): 1–23. doi:10.1111/brv.12038. PMID 23581455. S2CID 19710180.
2. Espen M. Knutsen; Patrick S. Druckenmiller; Jørn H. Hurum (2012). "Two new species of long-necked plesiosaurians (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Upper Jurassic (Middle Volgian) Agardhfjellet Formation of central Spitsbergen". Norwegian Journal of Geology. 92 (2–3): 187–212. ISSN 0029-196X.Low resolusion pdf High resolusion pdf
3. Benson, Roger B. J.; Bowdler, Timothy (2014-07-29). "Anatomy of Colymbosaurus megadeirus (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation of the U.K., and high diversity among Late Jurassic plesiosauroids". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (5): 1053–1071. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.850087. ISSN 0272-4634. S2CID 85066808.