Simolestes

Not to be confused with Cimolestes.

Simolestes
Temporal range: 171.6–145.5 Ma Middle–Late Jurassic[1]
Diagram of the skull of S. vorax
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Superorder: †Sauropterygia
Order: †Plesiosauria
Family: †Pliosauridae
Clade: †Thalassophonea
Genus: †Simolestes
Andrews, 1909
Species[1]
  • †S. vorax (type)
  • †S. indicus (?)
Synonyms

Simolestes (meaning "snub-nosed thief") is an extinct pliosaurid genus that lived in the Middle to Late Jurassic.[2] 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 (S.indicus),[3] however the referral of this species to Simolestes is dubious.[4] S.keileni from France was moved to the new genus Lorrainosaurus in 2023.[5]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference fossilworks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Smith, Adam S.; Dyke, Gareth J. (2008). "The skull of the giant predatory pliosaur Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni: Implications for plesiosaur phylogenetics" (PDF). Naturwissenschaften. 95 (10): 975–80. Bibcode:2008NW.....95..975S. doi:10.1007/s00114-008-0402-z. PMID 18523747. S2CID 12528732.
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Noe 2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Godefroit, P. (1994). Simolestes keileni sp. nov., un Pliosaure (Plesiosauria, Reptilia) du Bajocien supérieur de Lorraine (France). Bulletin des Académie et Société Lorraines des sciences, ISSN 0567-6576, 1994, tome 33, n°2, p. 77-95. 33. .