PBDB Taxon

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Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Elasmosaurus

Reptilia - Plesiosauria - Elasmosauridae

Taxonomy

Elasmosaurus was named by Cope (1868) [Sepkoski's age data: K Turo-l K Sn]. It is the type genus of Elasmosauridae, Elasmosaurinae.

It was synonymized subjectively with Cimoliosaurus by Lydekker (1889).

It was assigned to Streptosauria by Cope (1869); to Sauropterygia by Cope (1869); to Elasmosaurinae by Welles (1962); to Plesiosauria by Williston (1903), Williston (1906), Sepkoski (2002); to Elasmosauridae by Cope (1871), Cope (1875), Seeley (1892), Hay (1902), Wegner (1914), Hay (1930), White (1940), Welles (1943), Welles (1949), Brown (1981), Carroll (1988), Storrs (1999), Carpenter (1999), Sachs (2005), Ketchum and Benson (2010); and to Styxosaurinae by Otero (2016).

Species

E. marshi, E. platyurus (syn. Discosaurus carinatus)

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1868	Elasmosaurus Cope p. 264
1869	Elasmosaurus Cope p. 44
1871	Elasmosaurus Cope p. 235
1875	Elasmosaurus Cope p. 15
1892	Elasmosaurus Seeley p. 151
1902	Elasmosaurus Hay p. 458
1903	Elasmosaurus Williston p. 9
1906	Elasmosaurus Williston p. 222
1914	Elasmosaurus Wegner p. 289
1930	Elasmosaurus Hay p. 117
1940	Elasmosaurus White p. 466
1943	Elasmosaurus Welles
1949	Elasmosaurus Welles
1962	Elasmosaurus Welles p. 4
1981	Elasmosaurus Brown p. 340
1988	Elasmosaurus Carroll
1999	Elasmosaurus Carpenter p. 150
1999	Elasmosaurus Storrs p. 3
2002	Elasmosaurus Sepkoski
2005	Elasmosaurus Sachs
2010	Elasmosaurus Ketchum and Benson p. 15
2016	Elasmosaurus Otero

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967

Rank	Name	Author
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()
suborder	Sauropterygia
order	Plesiosauria	de Blainville 1835
superfamily	Plesiosauroidea	Welles 1943
family	Elasmosauridae	Cope 1869
—	Euelasmosaurida
—	Elasmosaurinae
genus	Elasmosaurus

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Elasmosaurus Cope 1868

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†Elasmosaurus marshi Williston 1906

†Elasmosaurus platyurus Cope 1868

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Invalid names: Discosaurus carinatus Cope 1868 [objective synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteo

Environment:

marineo

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

aquatico

Depth habitat:

surfaceo

Diet:

carnivoreo

Reproduction:

viviparouso

Created:

2009-07-20 06:05:48

Modified:

2011-08-12 01:58:15

Source: o = order

Reference: Kiessling 2004

Age range: base of the Late/Upper Turonian to the top of the Campanian or 93.50000 to 72.10000 Ma

Collections (9 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	Japan (Hokkaido)	E. sp. (94687)
Turonian	93.9 - 89.8	Japan (Sapporo)	E. sp. (98849)
Late/Upper Turonian	93.5 - 89.3	Japan (Hokkaido)	E. sp. (94685)
Early/Lower Santonian	85.8 - 83.5	Japan (Sapporo)	E. sp. (98848)
Early/Lower Santonian	85.8 - 83.5	Japan (Hokkaido)	E. sp. (94682 94683)
Campanian	83.6 - 72.1	USA (Wyoming)	E. sp. (105717)
Early/Lower Campanian	83.5 - 70.6	Japan (Hokkaido)	E. sp. (94679)
Early/Lower Campanian - Middle Campanian	83.5 - 70.6	USA (Kansas)	E. platyurus (77321)