Macroplata Swinton, 1930
Classification
Sauropterygia > Eosauropterygia > Eusauropterygia > Pistosauroidea > Plesiosauria >
Pliosauroidea > Rhomaleosauridae
M. tenuiceps Swinton, 1930 (type species)
Material
BNHM ??? Almost complete skeleton missing only the distal parts of the limbs.
Distribution
Schlotheimia angulata Zone, Hettangian, Lower Lias, Lower Jurassic, Harbury, Warwickshire, UK.
Images
Photograph from a media report of the discovery of Macroplata in Warwickshire.
'M'. longirostris (Blake, 1876)(='Plesiosaurus' longirostris)
Material
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Mass, No. 1033. Damaged skull, associated with limbs and vertebral column. These elements posibly belonging to more than one individual (White, 1940)
Distribution
Ammonites serpentinus Zone, Upper Lias, Whitby, Yorkshire, UK.
Images
Discussion
The Macroplata confusion. The type material
Macroplata tenuiceps has a unique feature of the pectoral girdle, there is a distinct notch in the posterior border of the coracoids. A "preglenoidal extension which does not diminish in width" is a character shared with Rhomaleosaurus victor. there is a clear interscapular fenestra. The number of rib facets vary along the cervical vertebral column (27 in total), there is only one in the anterior vertebrae, but two in the posterior ones. There are 5 pectorals, 19 dorsals, 4 sacrals and 30 caudals.