Vectocleidus
Vectocleidus was a plesiosaur, a long-necked marine reptile that swam in the warm seas of the Early Cretaceous. It lived about 125 million years ago near what is now the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. This predator used its sharp teeth to catch fish and other slippery prey.14
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Fun facts
Vectocleidus is known from only a single specimen, which includes parts of the skull, backbone, and flippers.1
It belonged to a group called Leptocleididae, which were small to medium-sized plesiosaurs that lived in shallow seas.14
The name Vectocleidus comes from Vectis, the ancient Roman name for the Isle of Wight, and the Greek word kleid- meaning 'key' or 'collar bone'.1
Its fossils were found in the Vectis Formation, which was once the bottom of a warm, shallow sea.14
Scientists think Vectocleidus was a fast swimmer that used its long neck to ambush prey.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Vectocleidus is often mistaken for a dinosaur.
Truth: Vectocleidus was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile, not a dinosaur. Dinosaurs lived on land, while plesiosaurs swam in the oceans.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Vectocleidus
- Named by
- Benson et al. 20134
- Group
- Plesiosaurs
- Family / clade
- Leptocleididae4
- Classification
- Plesiosauria > Sauropterygia4
- Age of the rocks
- 126 to 121 million years (Barremian)4
- Rock formations
- Vectis4
- Countries
- United Kingdom4
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Vectocleidus was named in 2012 by paleontologists Roger Benson, Hilary Ketchum, Darren Naish, and L. E. Turner based on fossils found on the Isle of Wight.14
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating exactly how Vectocleidus is related to other leptocleidid plesiosaurs, because its skeleton is incomplete.1
Where the facts come from
- Vectocleidus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Vectocleidus - Justapedia (justapedia.org)
- Vectocleidus (nl.wikipedia.org)
- Vectocleidus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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