Kronosaurus - (pronounced Kroe-noe-sore-uss)

Kronosaurus was one of the sea reptiles known as pliosaurs — a member of the plesiosaur group, but in the Pliosauridae family, with the distinctive feature of a much shorter, thicker neck.

It lived during the early Cretaceous period.

 

Pliosaurs were more heavily built, more streamlined, faster and fiercer than other plesiosaurs and were suited to catch fewer, larger meals with their massive jaws and rows of sharp teeth up to 25 cm (10 inches) long. They had a huge head, which was mostly mouth and it also had large eyes and an offset pair of nostrils that gave it directional 'water-sniffing' ability, as in other plesiosaurs.

Kronosaurus was a carnivore with a head that was up to 9 feet (2.7 metres) long, about a third of the entire length of the body.

Kronosaurus lived in the open oceans and breathed air. Some Plesiosaurs have been found with small stones in their stomachs which may have been used to help grind up their food, or as ballast, to help them dive. They probably laid eggs in beach sand (like modern-day sea turtles).

Kronosaurus swam with all of its four limbs, which had evolved into long, wide, strong flippers, one at each corner of the elongated body. The tail was short and tapering, as in other plesiosaurs and was perhaps used only for steering.

Kronosaurus was one of the largest pliosaurs and lived in the Early Cretaceous Period. Most of its fossils are known from Australia, where they were first discovered in 1889 in Queensland, which was covered by shallow sea some 120 million years ago.

The total length of a Kronosaurus was up to 13 metres (43 feet), but recent studies of its fossil skull and other parts and comparisons with other pliosaurs, suggest that the true length was probably only 9–10 metres (30–33 feet).

Kronosaurus may have laid eggs in nests that they dug into the sand, much as modern-day sea turtles do.

Other creatures preserved from the time include numerous fish and various molluscs such as squid, ammonites and belemnites. Some of their fossil shells bear tooth marks that could have been made by Kronosaurus, whose rear teeth were rounded and suited to crushing hard shells.

Kronosaurus fossils have been found in Australia and Colombia, South America. It was discovered in Queensland, Australia, in 1889 by A. Crombie and was originally thought to be an ichthyosaur. It was named and described by Longman in 1924. It is named after the Greek Titan Kronos, who ate his own children, the Olympians.

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Reptilia

Order: Plesiosauria

Family: Pliosauridae

Genus: Kronosaurus