Geological Magazine; July 2003; v. 140; no. 4;
p. 479-486; DOI: 10.1017/S0016756803007829
© 2003 Cambridge University Press (CUP)
The first relatively complete exoccipital-opisthotic from the braincase of the Callovian pliosaur, Liopleurodon
LESLIE F. NOÈ*,*,
JEFF LISTON
and
MARK EVANS
* The Sedgwick Museum, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, UK
Institute of Biological and Life Sciences (IBLS), University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
New Walk Museum, Leicester LE1 7EA, UK
* Author for correspondence: lnoe01{at}esc.cam.ac.uk
A newly recognized left exoccipital-opisthotic of a Callovian pliosaur, derived from the Peterborough or lower Stewarby Members of the Oxford Clay Formation of Peterborough, is described and figured. This isolated bone is tentatively identified as belonging to an adult individual of Liopleurodon ferox that is inferred to have had a skull length of 1.26 metres and an overall body length of 6.39 metres.
Key Words: Jurassic Callovian Sauropterygia Plesiosauria braincases
Copyright © 2009 by Cambridge University Press (CUP)