Goniosaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Maastrichtian}}

| taxon = Goniosaurus

| authority = Meyer, 1860

| type_species = Goniosaurus binkhorsti

| type_species_authority = Meyer, 1860

}}

Goniosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) of the Nekum Chalk, in the Netherlands. The only species so far described, G. binkhorsti is represented only by an isolated, compressed and slender tooth described by Christian Erich Hermann von MeyerMeyer, H., 1860. Saurier aus der Tuff-Kreide von Maestricht und Folx-les-Caves. Palaeontographica, 7: 241-244. and a referred toothMulder, E. W. A., 1990. Ein Elasmosaurierzähn aus der oberen Kreide des St. Pietersberges bei Maastricht, Süd-Limburg, Niederlande. Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 64 (1-2): 145-151. and possibly two cervical vertebraeMulder, E. W. A., 1985. Plesiosauriërs in de Limburgse Krijtzee. Natuurhistorisch Maandblad, 74 (5): 94-96. that shows that it was an elasmosaurid, as many other Late Cretaceous plesiosaurs from Europe.Bardet, Nathalie, and Pascal Godefroit. [http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/255596.pdf Plesiosaurus houzeaui Dollo, 1909 from the Upper Campanian of Ciply (Belgium) and a review of the Upper Cretaceous plesiosaurs from Europe]. Bulletin de l’Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre 65 (1995): 179-186. The generic name is derived from the Greek gonia, "angle", referring to the fact that the striations meets each other under an angle pointing to below, i.e. the root of the tooth, instead of towards the apex. Johannes Theodorus Binkhorst in 1857 drew Meyer's attention to the tooth in the collection of Ignaz Beusel and was rewarded for this by having the specific name named after him. Goniosaurus binkhorsti was already named by Meyer in 1858 but not fully described.