Dolichorhynchops herschelensis

Dolichorhynchops is an extinct genus of polycotylid plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America, containing the species D. osborni and D. herschelensis, with two previous species having been assigned to new genera. Definitive specimens of D. osborni have been found in the late Coniacian to early Campanian rocks, while those of D. herschelensis have been found in the late Campanian to early Maastrichtian rocks. Dolichorhynchops was a relatively small plesiosaur, measuring around 3 metres (9.8 ft) long. Its Greek generic name means "long-nosed face".

Dolichorhynchops herschelensis

Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China · CC0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
DolichorhynchopsPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Plesiosauria
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Plesiosauria
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Plesiosauria
Environment
marinePBDB, for Plesiosauria

Time the record covers

At most 18 million years on record.

The one occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 83.6 Mya and 66 Mya, which is a dating window rather than a span.

Late Cretaceous — about 1 of 1 occurrenceLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 1 occurrence84–83 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences83–83 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences83–82 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences82–82 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences82–81 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences81–80 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences80–80 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences80–79 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences79–79 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences79–78 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences78–77 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences77–77 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences77–76 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences76–75 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences75–75 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences75–74 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences74–74 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences74–73 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences73–72 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences72–72 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences72–71 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences71–70 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences70–70 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences70–69 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences69–69 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences69–68 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences68–67 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences67–67 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences67–66 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences66–66 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences84.1 Mya65.5 Mya

1 occurrence of Dolichorhynchops herschelensis on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Bearpaw Shale — 51.63°N, 108.36°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Dolichorhynchops herschelensis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Dolichorhynchops herschelensis and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Dolichorhynchops herschelensis and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

No other named taxon is catalogued from that site.

The Paleobiology Database records 1 site for Dolichorhynchops herschelensis, and this reads all of them.

Entered from

1 reference

Each of the 1 occurrence read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Dolichorhynchops herschelensis

Credit
Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Dolichorhynchops herschelensis was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDolichorhynchops through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Sato 2005