Paleoartwork by Simaomateus
Plesiopharos moelensis is an extinct plesiosaur that lived in what is now Portugal, in the Early Jurassic. It was discovered in São Pedro de Moel, Marinha Grande, from which the type species' binomial name, Plesiopharos moelensis, derives from. At the time of its publication - 2021, this plesiosaur was the most complete and oldest known from the Iberian Peninsula.[1]
Discovery[]
The fossils have officially and formally announced at 2021; however the fossils were found by two collectors, António Silva at 1999 and Vítor Teixeira at 2012; who donated them to the Lourinhã Museum in 2017 and were completely prepared in the Dino Parque laboratory. The species name derived from the Greek words πλησίος (plesios) meaning: "close" and φάρος (pharos) meaning: "lighthouse". That is because its holotype was found in the vicinity of a lighthouse as well as it is from São Pedro de.[2]
Paleobiology[]
The Species were large carnivorous plesiosaurs.