Callawayasaurus

{{speciesbox

| name = Callawayasaurus

| fossil_range = Early Cretaceous, {{fossil_range|125.45|122.46}}

| image = Callawayasaurus colombiensis.JPG

| image_caption = Skull of Callawayasaurus colombiensis displayed in the Paleontological Museum of Villa de Leyva

| genus = Callawayasaurus

| parent_authority = Carpenter, 1999

| authority = (Wells, 1962 [originally Alzadasaurus])

| species = colombiensis

|synonyms =

Alzadasaurus colombiensis Wells, 1962
Callawayosaurus lapsus calami

}}

Callawayasaurus is a genus of plesiosaur from the family Elasmosauridae. When the holotype was first described by Samuel Paul Welles in 1962,S. P. Welles. (1962). A new species of elasmosaur from the Aptian of Colombia and a review of the Cretaceous plesiosaurs. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 44(1):1-96 it was described as Alzadasaurus colombiensis before being moved into its current genus by Kenneth Carpenter in 1999.Carpenter, K. 1999. "Revision of North American elasmosaurs from the Cretaceous of the Western Interior". Paludicola 2(2):148-173.

History

Callawayasaurus is named in honor of the paleontologist Jack M. Callaway, editor of Ancient Marine Reptiles who, as Carpenter put it, "in his brief career as a vertebrate paleontologist, did much to improve our understanding of marine reptiles." The familiar suffix, -saurus comes from the Greek {{lang|grc-Latn|sauros}} ({{lang|grc|σαυρος}}), meaning "lizard" or "reptile".{{cite web

|url=http://www.ppne.co.uk/index.php?m=show&id=12604

|title=ppne.co.uk entry on Callawayasaurus

|access-date=2008-03-06

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728102202/http://www.ppne.co.uk/index.php?m=show&id=12604

|archive-date=2011-07-28

}}

Description

File:Callawayasaurus colombiensis.png]]

Callawayasaurus was a large plesiosaur, with a skull length of {{convert|35|cm|ftin}} and body length of {{convert|7.4|-|8|m|ft}}.{{cite journal|last1=Maxwell|first1=E.E.|last2=Cortés|first2=D.|last3=Patarroyo|first3=P.|last4=Ruge|first4=M.L.P.|year=2019|title=A new specimen of Platypterygius sachicarum (Reptilia, Ichthyosauria) from the Early Cretaceous of Colombia and its phylogenetic implications|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=39|issue=1|at=e1577875|doi=10.1080/02724634.2019.1577875 |bibcode=2019JVPal..39E7875M |s2cid=146059015 }}{{cite web|author=Karoll Valentina Yomayuza Herrera|year=2019|title=Desarrollo conceptual para un diorama representativo del Cretácico Inferior de la Formación Paja en la región del Alto Ricaurte|publisher=Tesis de grado Universidad de los Andes|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355470776}} The nares of Callawayasaurus are elongated and positioned over the maxilla, which has 3-5 teeth.

The neck contains 56 vertebrae which are relatively short compared to other elasmosaurids. Callawayasaurus fossils have no pectoral bars; in common with other plesiosaurs such as Terminonatator. They also lack postaxial accessory facets.Patrick S. Druckenmiller and Anthony P. Russell., "A new Elasmosaurid Plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the lower Cretaceous Clearwater Formation, Northeastern Alberta, Canada". Vertebrate Morphology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary

Another nearly complete skeleton was found to be slightly more robust than the holotype specimen. This subtle change may indicate sexual dimorphism.