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Gallardosaurus

Name means: “Gallardo's lizard”1

Ate: MeatPlesiosaursLate JurassicNot technically a dinosaur

Gallardosaurus was a short-necked, big-headed marine reptile that swam in warm seas near Cuba 160 million years ago. It was a pliosaur, a type of plesiosaur with a huge skull and strong jaws for catching fish.1 2

Fun fact: this sea reptile swam while dinosaurs walked on land. Everyone calls them dinos, but they were a different branch of reptiles.

Lived

159 to 155 million years ago3

Late Jurassic

Fossils found in

Jagua Formation, Viñales area, western Cuba1 3

Food

Meat1 2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Gallardosaurus is known from only one partial skull and a few neck bones. The tip of the snout and the back of the lower jaw are missing.1

The bones were found inside a hard rock called a concretion, which helped preserve them in three dimensions.1

The individual was probably not fully grown when it died, because some of its vertebrae were not fused together.1

Gallardosaurus lived in a shallow sea only about 10 to 12 metres (33 to 39 feet) deep. Oysters and algae grew on the seafloor.1

It shared its home with ichthyosaurs, a marine turtle called Notoemys oxfordiensis, and another plesiosaur named Vinialesaurus caroli.1

Scientists think Gallardosaurus may have migrated across the Caribbean Seaway each season, following the fish it hunted.1

The first fossil was discovered in 1946 by a Cuban farmer named Juan Gallardo. It was not fully studied until many years later.1

AI-made picture of Gallardosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Gallardosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Gallardosaurus

?How big was Gallardosaurus?

No complete skeleton has been found, so its exact size is unknown. Based on the partial skull and neck bones, it was probably a medium-sized pliosaur, but scientists do not have enough fossils to give a reliable length or weight.1 2

?What did Gallardosaurus eat?

It was a carnivore that likely ate fish. Scientists think it was an active predator that hunted nectonic (swimming) fish in the warm Caribbean Seaway.1 2

?Is Gallardosaurus a dinosaur?

No, Gallardosaurus is a pliosaur, which is a type of plesiosaur. Plesiosaurs are marine reptiles, not dinosaurs.1 3

?When did Gallardosaurus live?

It lived during the middle to late Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic, about 159 to 155 million years ago.1 3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Gallardosaurus
Named by: Gasparini 20093
Group: Plesiosaurs
Family / clade: Pliosauridae3
Classification: Plesiosauria > Pliosauridae > Sauropterygia3
Age of the rocks: 159 to 155 million years (Oxfordian)3
Rock formations: Jagua3
Countries: Cuba3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: The only known fossil was found in 1946 by Cuban farmer Juan Gallardo near Viñales, Cuba. It was first thought to be a species of Pliosaurus or Peloneustes, but in 2009 paleontologist Zulma Gasparini named it a new genus, Gallardosaurus.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Gallardosaurus grew, because only a partial skull and a few vertebrae have been found.1

Where the facts come from

Gallardosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
A new Oxfordian pliosaurid (Plesiosauria, Pliosauridae) in the Caribbean Seaway | The Palaeontological Association (palass.org)
Gallardosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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