Adam Stuart Smith

Academic paper

Palaeontology

Manuscript

The holotype of �Plesiosaurus� megacephalus (Stutchbury, 1846) was destroyed during an air raid on Bristol city during the Second World War. A replacement neotype specimen (LEIC G221.1851) was proposed in 1994 and Plesiosaurus megacephalus was assigned to the genus to Rhomaleosaurus. However, available plaster casts of the original holotype specimen are entirely satisfactory and remain valid. This paper rejects the neotype status of LEIC G221.1851 in favour of reinstating the rediscovered casts as the holotype of Rhomaleosaurus megacephalus. It is also recognises that R. megacephalus is distinct from Rhomaleosaurus sensu stricto and the species is therefore reassigned to the genus Eurycleidus.

Plesiosaur, Eurycleidus, Hettangian, Lias, Rhomaleosauridae

English