Genus
Valid Extinct

Atychodracon

Smith 2015

Atychodracon is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurian known from the Late Triassic - Early Jurassic boundary of England. It contains a single species, Atychodracon megacephalus, named in 1846 originally as a species of Plesiosaurus. The holotype of "P." megacephalus was destroyed during a World War II air raid in 1940 and was later replaced with a neotype. The species had a very unstable taxonomic history, being referred to four different genera by various authors until a new genus name was created for it in 2015. Apart from the destroyed holotype and its three partial casts, a neotype and two additional individuals are currently referred to Atychodracon megacephalus, making it a relatively well represented rhomaleosaurid.

Temporal range
PBDB occurrences
0
Group
Sauroptérygiens
Carnivore aquatic, depth=surface Marine
Atychodracon
click to enlarge
Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Sauropterygia Suborder
Plesiosauria Order
Rhomaleosauridae Family
Atychodracon Genus
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
A. S. Smith. 2015. Reassessment of ‘Plesiosaurus’ megacephalus (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, UK. Palaeontologia Electronica 18:1-19 DOI ↗