Brancasaurus brancai

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Sauropterygia
Superregnum: Eukaryota Cladus: Unikonta Cladus: Opisthokonta Cladus: Holozoa Regnum: Animalia Subregnum: Eumetazoa Cladus: Bilateria Cladus: Nephrozoa Superphylum: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Infraphylum: Gnathostomata Megaclassis: Osteichthyes Cladus: Sarcopterygii Cladus: Rhipidistia Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes Cladus: Elpistostegalia Superclassis: Tetrapoda Cladus: Reptiliomorpha Cladus: Amniota Cladus: Sauropsida Classis: Reptilia Cladus: Eureptilia Cladus: Romeriida Subclassis: Diapsida Cladus: Sauria Cladus: Archelosauria Superordo: †Sauropterygia

Ordo: †Plesiosauria
Subordo: †Plesiosauroidea
Familiae: †Leptocleididae
Genus: †Brancasaurus
Species: †Brancasaurus brancai

Name

†Brancasaurus brancai Wegner, 1914: 235

Holotype: GPMM A3.B4, almost complete skeleton.

Type locality: Gerdemann & Co brick-works clay-pit, northeast of Gronau (Westfalen), North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Germany.

Type horizon: Isterberg Formation (“Wealden 6,” Pachycytheridea trapezoidalis ostracod zone), Bückeberg Group, uppermost Berriasian, Lower Cretaceous.

Synonyms

†Gronausaurus wegneri Hampe, 2013: 475 [synonymized by Sachs, Hornung & Kear (2016: 57)]

Holotype: GMM A3.B2, partial skeleton.

Type locality: “Former pit of Gerdemann & Co. brickworks, Gronau/Münsterland, Westphalia, Germany.”

Type horizon: Bückeburg Formation, Osterwald Succession, Berriasian, Lower Cretaceous.

References

Primary references

Wegner, T.H. 1914. Brancasaurus brancai n. g. n. sp., ein Elasmosauride aus dem Wealden Westfalens. pp. 235–305 In: Schoendorf, F. (ed.). Festschrift für Wilhelm Branca. Verlag von Gebrüder Borntrager: Leipzig. 494 pp. Reference page.
Hampe, O. 2013. The forgotten remains of a leptocleidid plesiosaur (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauroidea) from the Early Cretaceous of Gronau (Münsterland, Westphalia, Germany). Paläontologische Zeitschrift 78(4): 473–491. DOI: 10.1007/s12542-013-0175-3 Reference page.
Sachs, S., Hornung, J.J. & Kear, B.P. 2016. Reappraisal of Europe’s most complete Early Cretaceous plesiosaurian: Brancasaurus brancai Wegner, 1914 from the ‘‘Wealden facies’’ of Germany. PeerJ 4: e2813. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.2813 Reference page.