Hydrorion

Hydrorion (meaning 'water hunter') is a genus of plesiosaur from the Toarcian Age of the Lower Jurassic. It is only known from multiple specimens, all discovered in the Posidonia Shale of southwestern Germany. The only species of Hydrorion is H. brachypterygius, which was originally described as a species of Plesiosaurus and then Microcleidus.^[2][3] It was a relatively small plesiosaur, with the largest specimen measuring 4 m (13 ft) long.^[4]

Hydrorion Temporal range: Lower Jurassic, Toarcian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Sauropterygia
Order:	†Plesiosauria
Family:	†Microcleididae[1]
Genus:	†Hydrorion Großmann, 2007
Type species
†Hydrorion brachypterygius (von Huene, 1923)
Synonyms
Microcleidus brachypterygius von Huene, 1923 Plesiosaurus brachypterygius (von Huene, 1923)

Restoration

See also

• Timeline of plesiosaur research

References

1. Ketchum HF, Benson RBJ. Global interrelationships of Plesiosaur (Reptilia, Sauropterygia) and the pivotal role of taxon sampling in determining the outcome of phylogenetic analyses. Biological Reviews
2. F. v. Huene. (1923). Ein neuer Plesiosaurier aus dem oberen Lias Württembergs. Jahreshefte des Vereins für Vaterländische Naturkunde in Württemberg 79:3-23
3. Großmann, F (2007). "The taxonomic and phylogenetic position of the pleisiosauroidea from the Lower Jurassic Posidonia shale of south-west Germany". Palaeontology. 50 (3): 545–564. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2007.00654.x. S2CID 130961209.
4. Peggy Vincent (2011). "A re-examination of Hauffiosaurus zanoni, a pliosauriod from the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) of Germany". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (2): 340–351. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.550352. S2CID 84743241.