What is Meyerasaurus?
{{italictitle}} {{speciesbox | name = ''Meyerasaurus'' | fossil_range = [[Early Jurassic]], {{fossil_range|183|180}} | image = Fossil-Plesiosaurier-Skelett.jpg | image_caption = The holotype in the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart | genus = Meyerasaurus | parent_authority = Smith & Vincent, [[2010 in paleontology|2010]] | authority = (Fraas, 1910 [originally ''[[Plesiosaurus]]'']) | species = victor | synonyms = *''[[Plesiosaurus]] victor'' <small>Fraas, 1910</small> *''Thaumatosaurus victor'' <small>Fraas, 1910</small> *''[[Eurycleidus]] victor'' <small>Zittel, 1932</small> *''[[Rhomaleosaurus]] victor'' <small>Tarlo, 1960</small> }} '''''Meyerasaurus''''' is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] of [[plesiosaur]]. An almost complete fossil was found in [[Holzmaden]], Baden-[[Württemberg]], southeastern [[Germany]].<ref name=Meyerasaurus>{{cite journal|authors=Adam S. Smith and Peggy Vincent |year=2010 |title=A new genus of pliosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Jurassic of Holzmaden, Germany |url=http://www.plesiosauria.com/pdf/smith&vincent_2010_meyerasaurus.pdf |journal=Palaeontology |volume=53 |issue=5 |pages=1049–1063 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00975.x|s2cid=54887772 }}</ref> It was a medium-sized, 3.35&nbsp;m (11.0&nbsp;ft) long, [[pliosaur]]. The specimen was collected from [[shale]] over 150 years ago. The shale dates to the early [[Jurassic]], about 183–180 million years ago (mya).<ref name=Meyerasaurus/> The specimen was described as a species of ''[[Plesiosaurus]]'' a hundred years ago.<ref>Fraas E. 1910. Plesiosaurier aus dem oberen Lias von Holzmaden. ''Palaeontographica'', '''57''', 105–140.</ref> It got its new name in 2010.<ref name=Meyerasaurus/> Most members of its family, the [[Rhomaleosauridae]], have been found in [[England]]. They were found in the lower [[Blue Lias]] deposits which date to the earliest [[Jurassic]], just above the boundary with the [[Triassic]]. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Plesiosaurs]]