Holotype LWL-MFN P 64047 provides an articulated Rhaetian plesiosaur skeleton and sampled long-bone histology, while its phylogenetic placement and physiology remain analytical inferences.
Represented range205.7–201.4 Ma
RegionsExter Formation, Bonenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
CladesRhaeticosaurus mertensi · Plesiosauria
Claim ledger
morphology · medium
Rhaetian holotype LWL-MFN P 64047 preserves plesiosaur anatomy and highly vascularized long-bone tissue; its basal pliosaurid placement and implications for growth rate or metabolism remain topology- and histology-based inferences.