Fresnosaurus

Taxobox
name = "Fresnosaurus"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous


image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Sauropterygia
unranked = Eusauropterygia
ordo = Plesiosauria
familia = Elasmosauridae
genus = "Fresnosaurus"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "Fresnosaurus drescheri" (type) 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. The generic name "Fresnosaurus" honors Fresno County, while the specific name honors Arthur Drescher.

"Fresnosaurus" was probably at least 30 feet in length. Like all elasmosaurid plesiosaurs, it probably ate small bony fish, belemnites, and ammonites.

References

* Sepkoski, J.J. (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". "Bulletins of American Paleontology" 363: 1-560

External links

* [http://www.dinosauria.com/dml/names/ples.html#F "Fresnosaurus"] from the Plesiosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide