Umoonasaurus   KEAR et.al. 2006a  

Type Species

demoscyllus

Species recorded

Umoonasaurus demoscyllus

Etymology

Umoona (Antakirinja) indigenous name for the Coober Pedy area, and sauros (Greek), lizard; demos (Greek), of the people, and scyll (Greek), a sea monster of classical mythology—referring to the type locality and purchase of the holotype specimen by public donations.

Diagnosis    KEAR et.al. 2006a

Identical for genus and species due to monotypy. Umoonasaurus possesses the unique-derived features (within Plesiosauria) of thin, arching crests on the midline of the snout (an elaboration of the midline ridge) and above the orbits, a large triangular pineal opening bordered by high fluted, crest-like margins. It further differs from all other plesiosaurs in displaying a distinctive mosaic of primitive and derived features (see character matrix in electronic supplementary material).

Genus List

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