Thalassiodracon Storrs and Taylor, 1996
The species Plesiosaurus hawkinsii was introduced in 1838 for a small plesiosaurian from Street, Somerset. The new genus name Thalassiodracon was applied decades later following an examination of a referred skull in Cambridge (CAMSM J.46986). Thalassiodracon means 'Sea Dragon', which, as Storrs and Taylor (1996) explain, "alludes to the colloquial description given to the Street marine reptile fauna by Hawkins" (p. 404). All three specimens pictured below were figured by Hawkins' in his "Book of the great Sea Dragons" (1840). Thalassiodracon is frequently regarded as the most basal pliosauroid. T. hawkinsii is the type and only species.
Classification
Sauropterygia --> Eosauropterygia --> Eusauropterygia --> Pistosauroidea --> Plesiosauria --> Pliosauroidea
M. hawkinsii (Owen, 1838)
Material
Type material: BMNH 2018*, a complete skeleton.
Age and Location
Uppermost Triassic or Lowermost Jurassic, Pre-planorbis beds, Blue Lias Formation, Street, Somerset, England.
Thalassiodracon images
A cast of the holotype skeleton of Thalassiodracon hawkinsii (BMNH 2018*) in the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. (Photo by A. Smith).
The holotype skeleton of Thalassiodracon hawkinsii (BMNH 2018*) in the Natural History Museum, London. (Photo by A. Smith).
Lectotype skeleton of Thalassiodracon hawkinsii (BMNH 2020) in the Natural History Museum, London. (Photo by A. Smith).
Referred skeleton of Thalassiodracon in storage at the Natural History Museum, London. (Photo by A. Smith).
