Brancasaurus
Encyclopedia
Brancasaurus is an extinct
genus
of plesiosaur
from the Early Cretaceous
of what is now Germany
. The type species
is Brancasaurus brancai, first named by Wegner in 1914
in honor of German paleontologist
Wilhelm von Branca
. Brancasaurus was similar to Elasmosaurus
; like Elasmosaurus, it had a long neck and a small head.
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of plesiosaur
Plesiosaur
Plesiosauroidea is an extinct clade of carnivorous plesiosaur marine reptiles. Plesiosauroids, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods...
from the Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...
of what is now Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
is Brancasaurus brancai, first named by Wegner in 1914
1914 in paleontology
-Dinosaurs:* Eugene Stebinger became the first to identify the Two Medicine Formation and to formally described its first fossil finds, which were excavated the previous year.-Newly named dinosaurs:Data courtesy of George Olshevsky's dinosaur genera list and Dr...
in honor of German paleontologist
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
Wilhelm von Branca
Wilhelm von Branca
Carl Wilhelm Franz von Branca was a German geologist and paleontologist.-Biorgaphy:He was born at Potsdam....
. Brancasaurus was similar to Elasmosaurus
Elasmosaurus
Elasmosaurus + σαυρος sauros 'lizard') is a genus of plesiosaur with an extremely long neck that lived in the Late Cretaceous period , 80.5 million years ago.-Description:...
; like Elasmosaurus, it had a long neck and a small head.
External links
- Brancasaurus in the Plesiosaur Directory