Gronausaurus
Gronausaurus was a long-necked marine reptile that swam in a huge freshwater lake in what is now Germany. It was not a dinosaur, but a plesiosaur that used its four flippers to paddle through the water. Scientists think it may actually be the same animal as another plesiosaur called Brancasaurus.14
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Fun facts
Gronausaurus lived about 139 to 137 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.4
Its fossils were found in a clay pit near the city of Gronau, Germany, in 1910. Workers dug them out with pickaxes and accidentally broke many bones.1
The only known skeleton is missing most of the skull bones, many neck vertebrae, and some limb bones.2
Gronausaurus had special cavities under the bones of its chest and back that helped stabilize its muscles when swimming.2
Many scientists now think Gronausaurus is actually the same species as Brancasaurus, just a fully grown adult.1
It lived in a large freshwater lake that sometimes became salty when the sea flooded in.1
Most asked questions about Gronausaurus
?Was Gronausaurus a dinosaur?
No, Gronausaurus was not a dinosaur. It was a plesiosaur, a type of marine reptile that lived in water and used flippers to swim.13
?How big was Gronausaurus?
Gronausaurus was about 3.26 metres long as a subadult. That is roughly the length of a small car.3
?What did Gronausaurus eat?
Gronausaurus was a carnivore, meaning it ate meat. It likely caught fish and other small animals in its freshwater lake home.4
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Myth buster
Myth: Gronausaurus was a dinosaur.
Truth: Gronausaurus was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that is not a dinosaur. Plesiosaurs are a different group of reptiles that lived in the water.4
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Gronausaurus
- Named by
- Hampe 20134
- Group
- Plesiosaurs
- Family / clade
- Elasmosauridae4
- Classification
- Plesiosauria > Elasmosauridae > Sauropterygia4
- Age of the rocks
- 139 to 137 million years (Berriasian)4
- Rock formations
- Bückeberg4
- Countries
- Germany4
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Gronausaurus was named by Oliver Hampe in 2013 based on a skeleton found in 1910 near Gronau, Germany. The skeleton was originally thought to belong to another plesiosaur, Brancasaurus.41
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if Gronausaurus is a separate species or just a grown-up Brancasaurus. The two are very similar, and the differences might be due to age.1
Where the facts come from
- Brancasaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Gronausaurus, new leptocleidid plesiosaur from Early Cretaceous of Germany.. (dml.reptilis.net)
- Brancasaurus (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
- Gronausaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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