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ATYCHODRACON
(at-e-ko-dray-kon)
meaning: "Unfortunate dragon"
Atychodracon
Named By: Adam S. Smith in 2015
Time Period: Late Triassic-Early Jurassic, 201 Ma
Location: England - Blue Lias Formation
Size: Roughly about 4.9 meters long for the holotype
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore
Fossil(s): Holotype destroyed, but detailed casts of the original have survived
Classification: | Chordata | Reptilia | Sauropterygia | Plesiosauria | PLiosauroidea | Rhomaleosauridae |
Also known as: | Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus | Plesiosaurus megacephalus |
About

Atychodracon is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaurian known from the Late Triassic - Early Jurassic boundary (probably early Hettangian stage) of England. It contains a single species, Atychodracon megacephalus, named in 1846 originally as a species of Plesiosaurus. The holotype of "P." megacephalus was destroyed during a World War II air raid in 1940 and was later replaced with a neotype. The species had a very unstable taxonomic history, being referred to four different genera by various authors until a new genus name was created for it in 2015. Apart from the destroyed holotype and its three partial casts (that survived), a neotype and two additional individuals are currently referred to Atychodracon megacephalus, making it a relatively well represented rhomaleosaurid.

Read more about Atychodracon at Wikipedia
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