Fresnosaurus

Fresnosaurus
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70–66 Ma
↓
Life restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Sauropsida
Superorder:
†Sauropterygia
Order:
†Plesiosauria
Family:
†Elasmosauridae
Genus:
†Fresnosaurus

Welles, 1943
Binomial name
†Fresnosaurus drescheri
Welles, 1943

Fresnosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian stage) of what is now California. The type species is Fresnosaurus drescheri, first described by Welles in 1943.[1] The generic name Fresnosaurus honors Fresno County, while the specific name honors Arthur Drescher.[2][1]

Fresnosaurus was probably at least 9 meters (30 feet) in length. Like all elasmosaurid plesiosaurs, it probably ate small bony fish, belemnites, and ammonites.[1][3]

  1. ^ a b c S. P. Welles. 1943. Elasmosaurid plesiosaurs with description of new material from California and Colorado. Memoirs of the University of California 13:125-254
  2. ^ Sepkoski, J.J. (2002). A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363: 1–560.
  3. ^ Fresnosaurus from the Plesiosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide