QM F18827, the skull of one of the proposed neotype specimens of K. queenslandicus
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Reptilia
Superorder:
†Sauropterygia
Order:
†Plesiosauria
Family:
†Pliosauridae
Subfamily:
†Brachaucheninae
Genus:
†Kronosaurus Longman, 1924
Type species
†Kronosaurus queenslandicus
Longman, 1924
Synonyms
Eiectus longmani ? Noè & Gómez-Pérez, 2021
Kronosaurus (/ˌkrɒnoʊˈsɔːrəs/KRON-oh-SOR-əs) is an extinct genus of large short-necked pliosaur that lived during the Aptian to Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous in what is now Australia. The first known specimen was received in 1899 and consists of a partially preserved mandibular symphysis, which was first thought to come from an ichthyosaur according to Charles De Vis. However, it was 1924 that Albert Heber Longman formally described this specimen as the holotype of an imposing pliosaurid, to which he gave the scientific name K. queenslandicus, which is still the only recognized species nowadays. The genus name, meaning "lizard of Kronos", refers to its large size and possible ferocity reminiscent of the Titan of the Greek mythology, while the species name alludes to Queensland, the Australian state of its discovery. In the early 1930s, the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology sent an organized expedition to Australia that recovered two specimens historically attributed to the taxon, including a well known partial skeleton that is now massively restored in plaster. Several attributed fossils were subsequently discovered, including two large, more or less complete skeletons proposed as potential neotypes. Two additional species were proposed, but these are now seen as invalid or belonging to another genus.
Kronosaurus is one of the largest known pliosaurs identified to date. Initial estimates set its maximum size at around 13 m (43 ft) long based on the Harvard skeleton. However, the latter having been reconstructed with an exaggerated number of vertebrae, estimates published from the early 2000s reduce the size of the animal from 9 m (30 ft) to more than 10 m (33 ft) long. Like all plesiosaurs, Kronosaurus has four paddle-like limbs, a short tail and, like most pliosaurids, a long head and a short neck. The largest identified skulls of Kronosaurus dwarf those of largest known theropod dinosaurs in size. Estimates of its bite force suggest that the animal would have reached between 15,000 to 27,000 newtons (3,370 to 6,070 lbf), surpassing the placoderm Dunkleosteus and rivaling Tyrannosaurus, but being largely outnumbered by the megalodon.
Based on its stratigraphic distribution in the fossil record, Kronosaurus inhabited the Eromanga Sea, an ancient inland sea that covered parts of central and eastern Australia during the Early Cretaceous and reached rather cold temperatures. The animal would likely have been an apex predator in this sea, with fossil evidence showing that it preyed on sea turtles and other plesiosaurs. The skull of a juvenile specimen shows that it would have been attacked by an adult, indicating intraspecific aggression or even potential evidence of cannibalism within the genus.
Kronosaurus (/ˌkrɒnoʊˈsɔːrəs/ KRON-oh-SOR-əs) is an extinct genus of large short-necked pliosaur that lived during the Aptian to Albian stages of the...
identified as a species belonging to the related genus Kronosaurus, even being named Kronosaurus boyacensis in a study published in 1992. This identification...
initially classified under the related genus Kronosaurus until 2021. A partial skull previously assigned to Kronosaurus queenslandicus that was discovered in...
ichthyosaurs, dinosaurs and other plesiosaurs. The largest known species are Kronosaurus and Pliosaurus macromerus; other well known genera include Rhomaleosaurus...
pliosauroids which have very short necks and may include Brachauchenius and Kronosaurus. However, modern cladistic analyses found that this group is actually...
claimed was typically one-seventh of the former measurement. Additional Kronosaurus specimens and a skeleton of L. ferox, GPIT 1754/2, show that the pliosaurs’...
A scene from the early Cretaceous: a Woolungasaurus is attacked by a Kronosaurus. Tylosaurus was a large mosasaur, carnivorous marine reptiles that emerged...
fairly unique among pliosaurs; it has only been documented elsewhere in Kronosaurus, Brachauchenius, Acostasaurus, and Sachicasaurus indicating that the...
Pliosauridae were still present as is shown by large predators, such as Kronosaurus. At the beginning of the Late Cretaceous, the Ichthyosauria became extinct;...
Meg 2018 Megalodon Meg 2: The Trench 2023 megalodons, Giant Octopus, Kronosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus 2010 Shark and crocodile...
Isla Sorna, and it included a sequence involving the aquatic reptile Kronosaurus, which was not featured in the final film. Another scrapped scene would...
Queensland is discovered, nicknamed "Wandah". According to Rob Levers, Kronosaurus Korner museum founder and chairman, it was possible to detect the fish...
considered the largest sauropterygian identified before the discovery of some Kronosaurus fossils in 1930. Based on comparisons made with other pliosaurs, Megalneusaurus...
single 2.8-metre-long (9.2 ft) incomplete mandible. The Early Cretaceous Kronosaurus queenslandicus is estimated at 9–10.9 m (30–36 ft) in length and 10.6–12...
Otodus Rhamphorhynchus Megalosaurus Brachiosaurus Dakosaurus Stegosaurus Kronosaurus The production of Sea Rex's plot is in Development, with 3D entertainment...
Pack adds the Wuerhosaurus, Minmi paravertebra, Dsungaripterus, and Kronosaurus as hatchable species. Camp Cretaceous Dinosaur Pack March 8, 2022 The...
restoration of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology's complete Kronosaurus skeleton. James Jackson Cabot (b. 1891 in Cambridge) Thomas Dudley Cabot...
restoration of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology's (MCZ) complete Kronosaurus skeleton. Having been interested in sea serpents since childhood and...
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