Newsletter 9

[plesio...@gmail.com]

THE PLESIOSAUR DIRECTORY NEWSLETTER. ISSUE 9
(January 2008)

Welcome to the first Plesiosaur Directory Newsletter of 2008! If you
have any comments or recommendations on how I can improve this
newsletter, if you want to recommend a link, image or PDF to feature
in a future issue of the newsletter, or if you have any corrections,
please contact me at plesio...@gmail.com. Thanks! Adam

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NEWS

Toys to be based on 'Sea Monsters' Movie.

Toy Company 'Wild Republic' recently revealed their plans to produce a
new line of toys and games in conjunction with National Geographic.
The line will be based on creatures featured in the recent National
Geographic IMAX movie 'Sea Monsters', including the elasmosaurid
plesiosaur Styxosaurus. Products will include plush toys, playsets,
craft kits and puzzles, and will be unveiled at the 2008 International
Toy Fair held in New York in February.

Read the press release here:
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/view_press_release.php?rssID=38849

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Peterborough Plesiosaurs

Fossil hunter Jamie Jordan has discovered a number of plesiosaur
specimens in a quarry on the outskirts of Peterborough, UK. The
fossils are from the Middle Jurassic Oxford Clay Formation, but have
not yet been formally identified.

More here:
http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/Jamie39s-dig-unearths-a-monster.3569337.jp

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/features/Dinosaurcrazy-Jamie-searching-for-the.3677075.jp

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New book, New plesiosaur

A new book, The Geology and Paleontology of the Late Cretaceous Marine
Deposits of the Dakotas, edited by James E. Martin David C. Parris,
includes chapters on fossil marine reptiles. In particular, Chapter 9
includes a description of the 'Adam's Museum Plesiosaur' by Bruce
Schumacher. This plesiosaur fossil was unearthed way back in 1934, but
this new article represents the first published description of the
remains. Significantly, the remains are recognised as the holotype of
a new genus and species of plesiosaur, Pahasapasaurus haasi.
Schumacher identifies P. haasi as an unusual polycotylid plesiosaur,
combining a mosaic of derived polycotylid characters with many
typically plesiomorphic characters.

More here:

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/20/news/local/doc476b517182e1e205684116.txt

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2008/01/09/news/local/doc47846db82df00992881846.txt

The book is now available from the Geological Society of America:

http://rock.geosociety.org/Bookstore/default.asp?oID=0&catID=9&pID=SPE427

The chapter on Pahasapasaurus is as follows:

Schumacher, Bruce A; 2007; A new polycotylid plesiosaur (Reptilia;
Sauropterygia) from the Greenhorn Limestone (Upper Cretaceous; lower
upper Cenomanian), Black Hills, South Dakota; The Geological Society
of America Special Paper 427

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UPDATES

New Procon Hydrotherosaurus toy added to toys page:
http://www.plesiosauria.com/toys.html

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PDF-CORNER

A paper describing the plesiosaur-like Yunguisaurus, by Cheng et al.
http://www.plesiosauria.com/pdf/cheng_et_al_2006_yunguisaurus.pdf
Full reference: Cheng, Y-N; Sato, T; Wu, X-C; and Li, C. 2006. First
complete pistosauroid from the Triassic of China. Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology, 26, 501-504.

Please note that PDFs featured in 'PDF-Corner' will only be available
temporarily.

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FEATURED IMAGE

The head and neck of an unusual and unknown plesiosaur cast (partly
reconstructed) from Morocco. Photograph by Mike Everhart and hosted by
oceansofkansas.com:

http://www.oceansofkansas.com/Morocco/Elasmosaur1.jpg


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PICK OF THE WEB

Plesiosaur animations seem all the rage these days, and because there
is no consensus on how they moved, each depiction is slightly
different. This one, produced by Don Myers, depicts a plesiosaur using
the controversial alternating limb-stroke hypothesis...

http://www.djmyers.info/dino.htm

...whereas these ones by Nicholas Jainschigg portray both alternating
limb-stroke and anterior limbs only repertoires:

http://www.nickjainschigg.org/MovThumb.html

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WHERE'S PADDY?

Paddy has migrated to warmer waters: he may be back soon though...

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ADS

Super Sea Monsters T-shirts and 2008 calendars are among the goodies
available from the National Geographic Sea Monsters Store:

http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2358380-10274093?url=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.nationalgeographic.com/product/4131.html

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Produced by Adam Stuart Smith 31/01/08