Vinialesaurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of reptiles}}

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = Oxfordian
~{{fossilrange|161|156}}

| image = Vinialesaurus caroli.png

| image_caption = Restoration

| genus = Vinialesaurus

| parent_authority = Gasparini et al., 2002

| species = caroli

| authority = Gasparini et al., 2002

| synonyms =

• Cryptocleidus caroli De la Torre & Rojas, 1949

}}

Vinialesaurus is a genus of plesiosaur from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) Jagua Formation of Pinar del Río, Cuba. The combinatio nova of the type species is Vinialesaurus caroli, first described as the subspecies Cryptocleidus? cuervoi caroli by Ricardo De la Torre and Luis Rojas in 1949 under the holotype MNHNCu P 3008,De la Torre & Rojas (1949). A new species and two subspecies of Ichthyosauria of the Jurassic of Vinales, Cuba. Memorias de la Sociedad Cubana de Historia Natural, vol. 19, n. 2, p. 197-200 and redescribed by Zulma Gasparini, Bardet and Iturralde in 2002. The authors of the 2002 paper considered Vinialesaurus distinct enough from Cryptocleidus to warrant its own genus, but it was a cryptoclidid.{{Cite journal |author=Gasparini, Z. |author2=Bardet, N. |author3=Iturralde-Vinent, M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2002 |url=http://www.medioambiente.cu/museo/viniasaur.htm |title=A new cryptoclidid plesiosaur from the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) of Cuba |journal=Geobios |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=201–211 |doi=10.1016/s0016-6995(02)00019-0 |access-date=2010-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702145258/http://www.medioambiente.cu/museo/viniasaur.htm |archive-date=2010-07-02 |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription }}

The name Vinialesaurus honors Viñales, the town in western Cuba where the fossil of Vinialesaurus was discovered. The specific name honours the discoverer, Carlos de la Torre y Huerta. The holotype consists of the front skull, front lower jaws, and the anterior two vertebrae (atlas and axis). It was prepared in the American Museum of Natural History in 1991/1992.Iturralde-Vinent, M., Norell, M.A. 1996. "Synopsis of Late Jurassic Marine Reptiles from Cuba". American Museum Novitates 3164: 1–17