Theodor Brandes

Academic paper

Palaeontographica

LXI

41-55

Remains of three Plesiosaurs to date the only examples of this group of reptiles in from Northwest Germany have been found in the lower Lias of the Kanonenberg near Halberstadt. Two individuals are represented only by isolated limb bones, but a third more complete skeleton was obtained by Mr. JOHANNES MAAK in the year 1899. It is now kept in the Städtischen Museum of Halberstadt as the property of the research community. The primary purpose of this paper is to proved an accurate diagnosis and description of this skeleton, whose significance has been very much underestimated. The restoration gives the observer no clear impression of number and quality of the bones, and there has been no opportunity to discuss the incomplete material. Some remarks on the affinities of the Liassic plesiosaurs resulting from an examinination of the literature are appended.

German