Name:
Megalneusaurus (Greek for "great swimming lizard"); pronounced MEG-al-noy-SORE-us
Habitat:
Shores of North America
Historical Period:
Late Jurassic (155-150 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 40 feet long and 20 or 30 tons
Diet:
Fish, squids and aquatic reptiles
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Large size; large head with numerous teeth
About Megalneusaurus:
Paleontologists don't know a whole lot about Megalneusaurus; this impressively named pliosaur (its moniker means "great swimming lizard") has been reconstructed from scattered and incomplete fossils discovered in Wyoming. How did an aquatic reptile wind up in the midwest, you ask? Well, 150 million years ago, a good part of what is today the North American continent was covered with what geologists call the "Sundance Sea."
Based on the size of Megalneusaurus' bones, it appears that this pliosaur may have given Liopleurodon a run for its money, attaining lengths of 40 feet or so and a weight in the neighborhood of 20 or 30 tons.
