Kronosaurus
Kronosaurus was a large pliosaur, one of the largest.[1][2] It is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Kronos. It lived in the Lower Cretaceous.
| Kronosaurus Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous
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| Harvard Museum of Natural History: restored with too many vertebrae | |
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| Genus: | Kronosaurus Longman, 1924
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Body-length estimates, based on the 1959 Harvard reconstruction, had put the total length of Kronosaurus at 12.8 meters (42 feet).[3] However, a recent study compared fossil specimens of Kronosaurus to other pliosaurs. The Harvard reconstruction may have included too many vertebrae, exaggerating its length. Its true length was probably only 9–10.9 meters (30–36 feet).[4][5]
Kronosaurus Media
QM F1609, the holotype mandibular symphysis of K. queenslandicus
Saturn Devouring His Son, artist's impression by Francisco de Goya, painted between 1820 and 1823, representing the Titan of the Greek mythology Kronos. Kronosaurus is named in reference to the latter for its large size and its possible ferocity reminiscent of the character
The Harvard skeleton was proposed to belong to another species of Kronosaurus based on suggested cranial differences.
Size of the largest specimen traditionally attributed to Kronosaurus (MCZ 1285) with a human. The light gray diagram represents the size of the specimen as it is currently mounted at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, while the dark gray one shows it with a more accurate estimate
Cranial reconstruction of Kronosaurus queenslandicus (Longman, 1924). The diagram is based on a figure by McHenry (2009), which is a reconstruction of the skull of a referred specimen cataloged as QM F18827. This specimen, discovered in 1990 in the Toolebuc Formation, is view according to Poropat et al. (2023) as a potential neotype that could preserve the validity of the genus and species.
Assigned specimen in Kronosaurus Korner museum, Queensland
Skeleton of Brachauchenius, the type genus of the subfamily Brachaucheninae, a lineage of which Kronosaurus is a member
Life restoration based on the Harvard specimen
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References
- ↑ Longman H.A. 1924. A new gigantic marine reptile from the Queensland Cretaceous, Kronosaurus queenslandicus new genus and species. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 8: 26–28.
- ↑ Hampe O. 1992. Ein großwüchsiger Pliosauride (Reptilia: Plesiosauria) aus der Unterkreide (oberes Aptium) von Kolumbien. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 145: 1-32.
- ↑ Romer A.S. & Lewis A.D. 1959. A mounted skeleton of the giant plesiosaur Kronosaurus. Breviora 112: 1-15.
- ↑ Kear B.P. 2003. Cretaceous marine reptiles of Australia: a review of taxonomy and distribution. Cretaceous Research 24: 277–303.
- ↑ McHenry, Colin R. 2009. Devourer of Gods: the palaeoecology of the Cretaceous pliosaur Kronosaurus queenslandicus. The University of Newcastle, N.S.W. Australia, Web. [1]
Other websites
- Genus KronosaurusArchived 2012-05-03 at the Wayback Machine. The Plesiosaur Directory.