Piratosaurus

Piratosaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
Holotype tooth USNM V 1000
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Sauropsida
Order:
Sauropterygia
Superfamily:
†Plesiosauria
Family:
†Polycotylidae?
Genus:
†Piratosaurus

Leidy, 1865
Type species
†Piratosaurus plicatus
Leidy, 1865
Synonyms
  • Pyritosaurus (sic)

Piratosaurus (meaning "Multiplied pirate lizard") is a dubious genus of plesiosaur[1] possibly belonging to the Polycotylidae[2] that is known exclusively from the type species P. plicatus, named and described by Joseph Leidy in 1865.[3] It is known only from the holotype, USNM V 1000, a tooth, discovered in Late Cretaceous-aged rocks in the Red River basin of Manitoba; at least one researcher erroneously assumed it was found in Minnesota.[1]

  1. ^ a b Hay, O. P. (1930). Second Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America 390(II):1-1074
  2. ^ J. J. Sepkoski. (2002). A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560
  3. ^ Leidy, J. (1865). Cretaceous reptiles of the United States. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge 192:1-135